Living in Singapore

So we had safely arrived in Singapore and embarked on 4 years of a totally different life for ourselves and for Hector.
No 1 had been given a house in the Naval Base that was allocated to Dockyard people. It had a living room and 3 bedrooms and stood on stilts, so that the windows caught any breeze going and bugs etc were less likely to gain access. The temperature was about 89F mostly and the humidity approaching 90 too. We had left the UK with snow on the ground, so Hector had his winter coat on - a dense woolly undercoat and a longer hairy top coat. It took him about 3 months to change this to very little undercoat and just the hairy stuff. Otherwise he adjusted to the new life remarkably quickly. He had to be kept tied up because there was only a small amount of garden and all open to the rest of the base. He lived by day under the house, attached by a long rope (with a chain nearest to him, so's he couldn't bite through it) to a rope that ran across under the floor above. This meant that he could run about quite a lot. At night he slept on our bed as ever.
We only stayed for 8 months in No 132. After that we moved out of the Base into a house that had been built for the MD of Metal Box, whose factory was just down the road. It was only a mile or two from the Causeway that linked Singapore Island to Johore Bahru in Malaya. A minor road ran past the gate and the drive led down to our house at the lower end of the compound. There was one other house which very soon became vacant, so we lived on our own here. The other 2 or 3 houses had never been built. We inherited Lim and Leong from the previous occupants. They were Amar and Cook Boy respectively. They were Chinese and had spent the war in Malaya where they were badly treated by the Japanese. They were not that keen on dogs, but were kind to Hector who soon decided to accept them. On one side of the compound, which was surrounded by a 10ft high wire fence, was jungle. On the other side was a stream and not far off a small Kampong (village) where Malays lived. Across the road were a banana plantation and rubber trees. Below the house was the main road from the Causeway to Singapore City, and beyond, a lovely view of the Straits of Jahore.
The very first day, the children and I, with Hector, were exploring the compound. Hector was off the lead but not far away. Suddenly he started a high pitched regular woofing - not his normal noise. When we went over, there was a black cobra in a monsoon drain, swaying in front of him and he was clearly being hypnotised. Luckily I had his lead in my hand and threw it at the snake, which broke the spell and it shot off. I managed to catch Hector before he tried to hunt it! Either that night or shortly after, there was a yell from the children's bathroom, where A was having a bath - "a snake, a snake!". Leong came running and fortunately was able to tell us that it was a house snake and quite safe! You would have thought all this would have frightened me off, but somehow it was just all part of the challenge of the new life.
There were four things that happened during the next 3 years that are worth recording as part of Hector's life. First of all was the arrival of the monkeys. There was a troop of them living in the bit of jungle next door. They used to come and sit on the wire fence and hurl insults at Hector, who hated them. He had his special monkey bark - quite different from his usual one or the snake one! In the early days, I did not keep him tied up and he would dash out, they would fly off into the jungle and he would chase them into the trees. I knew that if they caught him they would tear him in pieces, so I was in agony till he came back. I used to put music on very loud so that I would not hear him if he screamed! He led a charmed life and always came back. In the end I had to keep him tied up. We had a living room with very wide double doors leading on to the veranda, so he used to be tied on his long rope/chain in such a way that he could be inside or out.
After 2 years, we came home for 3 months leave. The Captain of the Dockyard, who happened to be a distant relation, had become fond of Hector and his long-suffering wife agreed to take him. They lived in a smart Admiralty house, second only to the Admiral's. It was at ground level in the Base. The doors were kept shut and the windows were quite high so Hector seemed to be secure. He fell in love with the younger daughter and hated to be parted from her. He slept on her bed and growled ferociously at her father when he tried to say goodnight to her. One day she went out in the car with her elder sister, shutting the door behind her. Hector was furious and to everyone's amazement he managed to jump out of the window. He was a wee fellow, so goodness knows how he did it. Anyway he did and disappeared. 2 or 3 weeks later, we got home to be met by a distraught Captain. What was making matters worse was that it was his responsibility to order the dog shoots, that had to take place in the Base, due to the number of feral dogs that lived in the monsoon drains. It was high time there was one. Hector had been sighted off and on running with these dogs. About a week or so after our return, there was a delighted phone call. The wife of the Padré had been driving through Sembawang, near the main gate to the base and spotted Hector among the food stalls. She stopped the car, opened the door, called Hector and he came running over and jumped in! He was well fed and wearing a new collar. We were all delighted but none more so than D G-W who could go ahead with the dog shoot. [I know it sounds horrid, but needs must and they used good marksmen]
The next event was when he got covered in ticks. He was always getting the odd one, which I would pull off but this time he really was covered with them and got tick fever which meant a visit to the vet. We had to find where he was getting them. It turned out that a small skin rug that my brother had bought in NZ and given me well before we went to Singapore was thick with them. I imagine that he had dropped some on it over a period and they had bred and it became a vicious circle. The only problem, once the fever had gone, was that No 1 got one in a certain hairy part of his anatomy - much to my hilarity!
About a year before we came home, Hector escaped and disappeared. We had no idea where he was and really gave him up for lost. A fortnight later, a very bedraggled little figure was spotted wavering his way down the drive. He was torn open most of the length of his back. We decided that he had joined the dogs around the kampong and being extremely keen on the ladies, had got into a fight with one of the males. Any way, the vet again. He would not stitch up the wound because there was a great danger of fly blow. I was given a huge syringe and some nasty yellow ointment and had to get it in under all the loose skin! He didn't like it much but I managed and it kept the flies out. It was not long before he had healed up. A most remarkable dog - no?
Three months before we went home, we shipped him off - in a proper cage this time - to go into quarrentine. By doing it like that, we only had 3 months there and here without him, which was better than 6 months here. As for him, it made no difference. We did not visit him for 2 reasons. You could not touch the dog and also we were told it was better for him. For us to appear and then disappear again would have been very hard for him.
At this point I must introduce a very short-term dog. About 1.0 oclock at night, 6 months before we left, we were woken up by Leong throwing open the door and turning on the light. We were petrified because we thought it was burglers until he spoke. It turned out that a man had got in through the high narrow window in his and Lim's room and taken his watch - and frightened him a lot. He announced after this that he would not stay unless we got a guard dog. Hector slept with us and if left loose in the house at night barked all the time. So we got a brindled short haired dog about the size of an alsation, from a family that was going home. I forget her name, but she was a sweet dog, and got on well with Hector, but she had obviously been badly treated by a male Chinese! I made Leong feed her so that she would learn that he was OK. He did so with great trepidation but put up with her because she was definitely a good guard dog! We had an Indonesian gardener who was a witch doctor. People would come down the drive to see him with a live chicken's legs sticking out of a bag! One day, she bit him. I was really quite frightened because I thought he might put a curse on me!!! I bathed the wound and put sticking plaster on it. We heard no more about it, luckily. She was passed on to someone else, when we left.
So that is the end of dogs in Singapore. One day I might possibly blog about life there for us humans! There were still many years of life for Hector, so you will hear more of him anon.

Singapore

At long last, here is the next instalment.


After Hector fell out with Mr Chips, and it became apparent that I would have to take Hector to Singapore with us, there was a fairly hectic period while I found out what was required. As far as I can remember, he did not need any injections that we had not already given him. What was required was a cage for him to travel in. Mr Petty gave me a tranquiliser to keep him happy.

The last day or so was spent with C's Godmother near Heathrow and while there we found the cage. She took us (me and A aged 6, C aged 5 and Hector) to the airport. No 1 was already out there getting a home organised. We boarded and had seats near the back on the left hand side. Funny the things we remember! Hector was in the cabin with us and at the back, where our coats were hung up. (Please remember that we are talking about 1969). Off we went to our first stop at Zurich.
By the time we got there, Hector had bitten his way through the wire on the front of the cage!. Everyone got off while we refuelled, Not the P.....'s. Because Hector was now free, we had to stay on board. The only wire they could find was fuse wire. Quite useless. We darned it across the hole but we knew it was not going to keep Hector in. He had had a tranquiliser before take-off. It had had the opposite effect. (Later A proved that it could happen to a boy too!!) Anyway, the plane took off and went to, I think, Bahrain. There were soldiers in all directions with guns. No one was used to that in those days. We could not go to the transit lounge because of Hector.
On to Delhi, so far as I can remember. Same thing - couldn't land. It was pretty horrific. I had C aged 5 in the window seat, then me then Hector in his cage. I had to keep calming him whenever he tried to bite his way out, so I couldn't sleep. By the grace of God, there were 2 off duty air hostesses, on their way to Singapore to bring a school party home, sitting behind us. They took A. Dealt with his almost hyperactivity and air sickness!! So I only had to cope with C and the dog!
After Delhi we went on to Jakarta, I think. There was a change of crew and a lovely pilate came aft asking who was the lady with the dog. Having identified me, he said he would look around when we got there and make sure there were no dogs about and if all clear, we could go for a walk! He was the man who was going to have to sign a piece of paper that said that Hector had not met a dog on his way from London to Singapore (rabies) Once there, he gave us the all clear and we went down into the great heat and walked on the spiky grass. Hector said it was not his idea of a place for peeing and so didn't! I bet if he had got lose in the cabin he would have! Still, it was the first time we had been able to stretch our legs. Hadn't since leaving the UK! That was the last stop.
The next stop was Singapore. 23 hours and only the one exit. No 1 was there to meet us. Our entry was simple but it took at least an hour to get Hector passed through. No 1 had decided that we should stay in a hotel as we arrived fairly late. The Singaporeans do not much love dogs. We managed to secrete him somehow until we were in the lift! He then had to spend the night in our room, still not peeing. I really cannot remember if he peed while walking round about the airport! The next day, we smuggled him out and went to our house in the Naval Base.
There another story awaits.

"Short-term" dogs - and Hector

While we had Charlie, we also had a black labrador who was a relation (despite the colour) but not in any way the same. Black Rocket was a rangy bitch. A nice enough companion but before she was very old, she developed a problem with all her mucous membranes. This involved drooling, eyes running etc. As we had a small baby, and Petty could not find a cure, we ultimately had to make the decision that she would be happier in Valhalla. For some time, I painted all over inside her mouth at least twice a day with something given to us by Petty. Not a nice job but would have been worth it if it had worked.

Rocket was followed by another yellow lab, Jasper. He was a beautiful animal but he never got control of his gut, so there were piles every morning - fortunately on a stone floor. As time went by it developed into a diarrhoea form of movement. In the end, he went to stay with Petty in the hope that he could do something about it. Finally his back end turned massively inside out, so he went to join Rocket. This all caused us much distress and made us feel that although we loved labradors, we should perhaps not try with one again. However, we were not going to give up the idea of a dog altogether.

One day, my sil rang to say that a friend had a Border Terrier with a litter of mongrels. The mum was a lovely well behaved dog and they were looking for homes for the puppies. Right, said I, I will be over. Of course I fell for the babies - they are always so adorable, aren't they?
Before long they were old enough to go to their homes so one morning I collected a small person who could almost stand on my hand. We spent the day getting to know each other and then we heard the car and No1 was home. We went out of the front door to greet him and the small object started as he meant to go on - he growled! and growled! and growled!!!!! I seem to remember that No 1 was able to laugh - he really was a ridiculous sight being so small. We called him Hector.

I think that was about 1967. Little did we know what a mixed 17 years we were letting ourselves in for!

Towards the end of 1968 No 1 was offered a job in Singapore. The available work in the North East, in ship owning/repairing was not exciting and he really needed to do something drastic. To me it really was drastic - we had 2 children and a dog. I had only lived for a short time outside the NE of England. All my friends and interests were here. My Father was getting old and my Mother had multiple sclerosis. On the other hand, I had 3 younger brothers, our son was 6 1/2 and daughter was 5 - ages that would move easily. What about Hector? My parents had 2 Sausage Dogs, (sorry, Dachshunds), Fish and Chips. Fish was a black and tan bitch but Chips was a large red dog. Hector knew them well. The parents said they would take Hector which was a golden offer and I am sure was made with some misgiving. No 1 went off to prepare the ground and find accommodation and so on. I was left to sort out our belongings and complete the sale of the Old House. Having completed all that, I moved, with the children, to my parents and Hector of course. It was not long after we got there that Chips and Hector had a whale of a fight. Thank goodness it happened before I left because it was clear that they could not keep Hector if they were going to fight - they were too old for that. So the decision was forced on us to take Hector with us.

The flight and the 4 years in Singapore were not without incident but they are for the next post.

Charlie

While we were still at Withy Brook, A was born. As Charlie was a child substitute up to that moment, it could have been difficult. However, he was a dog in a million. He certainly was not adversely affected by the advent of a baby into his life. The fact that said baby was a 'screamer' affected his missus a great deal more than him!.

Life continued in a rather different way. A baby who had to be 'walked'. Charlie did not know the meaning of the word - so this was a benefit though the walks were constricted to the only road, because of the pram! An extra person entered his life - the Mother's help. I dare say she slipped him food which, being a labrador, was of immense importance. When the baby was about 10 months old, missus became pregnant again and after a while, it was found that her blood pressure was up. As far as I can remember, it was at about 6 months. After that life became very boring for a labrador. Missus was in bed. The mother's help looked after the baby during the day. Master came home about 6.0 but the baby had to be put to bed. The dog took a very minor part. Looking back, as I write this, all I remember was the terrible frustration of being bed-bound and the difficulties of a hyper-active todler. No memories of how we looked after a yellow labrador. It is part of his glory that he did not cause us any problems.

It was probably during this time that 2 things happened. The first was when I was up. An Indian carpet seller came to try to sell us carpets (!) He got no nearer than the front gate. A yellow lion stood between him and me. A huge ruff and a deep voice were enough to persuade him that I did not need one of his carpets.

The other thing was when, about 1.00 am, a knocking came at the door. We were the last house on the way up to the moor. No 1 went down to see what it was all about. He was quite frightened and took Charlie with him. Again the huge ruff and the deep bark were enough to reduce the man whose car had failed up the hill to a heap of shaking jelly!!

In the end the baby who had caused Missus to be in bed for 2 1/2 months arrived. 6 months later the family moved to Hurworth and The Old House. This was a large house in the village. It had a large garden, but there were no longer fields around. Despite this, Charlie seemed to keep well. He was, by now getting on in age. He developed a kidney problem. The vet that we used was in Darlington. Those of you who know the Herriot stories may remember that Herriot used a vet in Darlington for small dog problems. This was Petty who was a brilliant vet and looked after Charlie very well. By the time he died, I reckoned I had bought at least one wheel of Petty's Bentley!! Charlie was not allowed any meat for the last part of his life and lived on a special kidney diet, which came in a can. The butcher and his delivery boy knew about the ban on meat. Charlie had always had an absolute passion for kidneys. No 1 went to Harrow School and had fond memories of Sunday breakfast - bacon, egg, mushroom, and kidney. As a result, we often bought kidneys from the butcher. One awful day, the 'boy' gave Charlie kidney, or maybe put the kidneys where he could get at them. The result was fatal. During that night he started to leak almost continuously and could not stand up by morning. It was clear what was to happen. I took him to see Petty, knowing what he would say. I could not stay with him - isn't that awful? But I just couldn't. I went back to the car and just wept and wept. After a short time Petty came out and said that Charlie had gone peacefully to Dogs Valhalla and what could he do for me? He offered a cigarette which I took, but all he could really do was leave me till I felt I could drive home. I got there in the end! (I have tears in my eyes as I write this)

More will come in the next addition. It would not be right to go on, after Charlie's going.

Niggy and on -

As I told you, I was at boarding school when I got Niggy. After Vl form, I had a year at home (now known as a gap year). Most of it I actually spent at home. I did a correspondence course in Physics, which I hadn't done at school' and typing and shorthand. The latter was very difficult by post because they simply did not understand the long a that I used!! Anyway, that has nothing to do with Niggy. I disappeared for a fortnight to France to practice French but otherwise spent my time with Niggy and Jenny, my pony if I was not in my room doing one of the courses, writing to friends, going to the pictures with a friend, learning to drive and passing my test at the second try or trying my hand at the garden because that was what I had decided to do. Oh, and no doubt falling out with the parents - that's what one does at that age isn't it?

The next 3 years, for Niggy, were the same as when I was at school. Mine in the holidays, the parents in the term when I was at College learning Horticulture. After I left College, she remained at home because I got a job in South Harrow, working in a Nursery. About the end of this time, I met No 1 so came home and saw more of my dog, though I was working for the parents of a friend. No 1 and I were married in August 1955 and went to live in Cullercoats as he was completing his Chief Engineers qualifacations in Gateshead. As we looked out to sea and all I had to do was walk on the beach, it was very sad that we were not allowed a dog in the flat. Consequently, we were only with Niggy at the weekends. We had already bought a house on the North side of the Cleveland Hills, and spent our weekends working on it, usually staying at my home, so Niggy came with us. It was at this time that we became very friendly with someone who was to be very important to us for the next 15 years. He had a breed of yellow labradors, and usually had several of them about. It must have been about then that his main bitch gave birth to a litter which included Charloch (Charly), Cassiopea (Cassy) and Cobnut (Cobby).
We moved into Withy Brook in the spring of 1956. Niggy moved in with us and we were soon joined by Charly. Cassy went to a family who soon returned her as they couldn't cope. They had used a rolled up newspaper to control her, so that she went beserk if she saw a paper. Our friend soon got her sorted out and she was a happy member of the family group. Cobby was a really lovely dog - darkish yellow coat and huge. His gorgeous labrador head was vast in proportion and he was loving and giving. Very sadly he met an untimely end by jumping out of friends van and straight under a car. He was always headstrong. I have a lovely bit of old movie of him jumping a fence - beautiful.
Charly was one of those dogs that you never forget. He was a child substitute for the first 6 years of his life but still loved A when he finally arrived. He gave Niggy abit of hassle as a puppy, but she didn't really mind. She liked Withy Brook and pottered about happily until she became old and ill. She ended her life at my old home which I think she had always thought of as her home. Back to Charly. He was very naughty and very happy to go hunting on his own. I had to watch him the whole time. Despite that, he would escape quite often. I remember once, he had been missing for a few hours. The gamekeeper, who lived just down the lane and was a fairly nasty character, appeared at the door, with Charly's collar in his hand. He drew it out as long as he could before he told me that he had managed to get hold of the collar, but Charly had slipped it! I was quite certain that he had shot him! [Said gamekeeper, shortly after we left, was shot by his wife who then shot herself!]
So, Niggy has gone. Charly is growing mature and we are still at Withy Brook. There is still quite a lot more to tell about him and it is bed time, so that's it for now.

Dogs I have known.

When I was born, my mother's terrier ran all round the village to tell everyone that there had been an Event at the Hall! I know Ma loved that terrier but I do not know much about him and certainly do not remember him.

The first dogs that I remember are Joey and Peggy. Joey was a smooth-haired mongrel, about the same height as a small springer, belonging to my Mother. She was black and tan and I loved her dearly. She was soooo long-suffering. I was fixated on driving her and used to try to make her go in 'harness' but it really was not part of her ethos! Peggy was a white and tan springer spaniel. She belonged to my Father and was a 'shooting' dog. She always accompanied my Father when he went shooting, but how good she was, I have no idea. She lived inside and was more of a pet really, I am sure! I did not have much to do with her - she was very much Pa's.
I remember a terrible event - to me, a small child. Peggy had gone missing as happened often with Joey too. On this occasion, Joey had come home but not Peggy. In the middle of the night, the person sleeping in the room at the West end of the house, heard a sort of whining and went down to investigate. Who-ever it was found Peggy outside the gate, in a very weak state. When, next day, she was taken to the vet, she had a very large number of pellets removed from all over. After careful nursing, she recovered, and went on to enjoy many more shooting days!

In the course of time, both dogs departed this life. I do not remember either going or when. Maybe, by then I was at boarding school - I really don't remember.

Then there was Poppy-poo-pa. Where did she come from? I've no idea. She was a brown and white, smooth-haired terrier of some indefinable sort. She was memorable because she just disappeared. She had a habit (as all dogs at home did) of going hunting. That day she was reported as having been seen, about tea-time, in a tired and grubby state, but was never seen again. We thought that she had probably gone down to the river and in her exhausted state had managed to be drowned but it was all speculation.

There may have been others that I have forgotten but we come now into the time when dogs belonged to me!

A black bitch of undefineable parentage appeared in the village and was taken in by the school teacher. She was very pregnant and ultimately my parents took her in. She gave birth to 3 puppies, Gog, Magog and Niggy. Gog and Magog were large yellow, dog puppies. Niggy was a black bitch. After a great deal of wearing down of an imovable mountain, I won and was given the black bitch. The other two were found homes in the village. I expect that I named her Niggy because she was black! As I was at boarding school, it was accepted by all, including Niggy! that she was mine in the holidays and theirs in the term-time. As a very lonely child, Niggy took a very important place in my life, along with my pony, which was of much more use as someone to talk to than to ride! (A future blog perhaps) Niggy's mother was called Gippy and there was only one thought in their minds. That was to escape and to have a jolly good hunt. It should be remembered that in those pre myxy days, there were oodles of rabbits and dogs knew that they only existed to be hunted!! The trouble was that we were in an area with a lot of sheep, so dogs out on their own were in danger of being shot (which was what had happened to Peggy) As a result, one of the dogs was on a lead at all times. They were swopped over regularly. Every now and then the 'on lead' dog would manage to get off and away they went. Even if you were there, you could shout your heart out and they wouldn't take a blind bit of notice!! However, despite a great deal of heartache caused to all, they both survived. I do not remember how Gippy met her end, but I know that Niggy lived to a good age and her story follows next. [I hope to add scanned photos later]

Terracotta Army and China

Last October, G and I set out for Beijing. As the times of the tour companies flights did not suit anyone from Northumberland, we arranged our own flight by BA. G's son-in-law got us an upgrade (he is a BA pilot) but when we arrived our luggage was still in Heathrow!!. It arrived in our hotel next day.

We did all the usual things in Beijing, including visiting Tieneman Square and the Forbidden City and the Great Wall

Then we went on to Chian, where the army is. It was as amazing as they tell you, to go into the huge aircraft hanger-like place and to see all those soldiers.

This chariot was frequently seen on the television the last few days, in bits and programs about the army. I was amazed at how well it came out. Yes, I did take it myself! Here is a picture of the soldiers. And here is a picture of Belsay Bear from Belsay First School having a look!

We went on to see lots more of China including the 3 Gorges Dam, and having a cruise down the Yangste.

We ended in Hong Kong, which I had last visited in 1970, when I spent Christmas there, while living in Singapore.

While we were in HongKong, the Daughter and son-in-law arrived and the s-i-l flew us home. As a result, Belsay Bear was invited onto the flight deck and had his photo took!