Southend U3A

April 2023

The Walk - Pete Norman

Walking is simple, free and one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become more healthy – and Frank would be the first to agree with that sentiment.

The best place to walk for miles around is The Common – and Frank would endorse that opinion as well – in spades!

Frank and Marjorie walked as often as they were able and as often as the weather would permit them and The Common was their favourite place of all. There were acres and acres of space, with open grassed areas and a labyrinth of trails through the wooded parts, which were so arranged that, from the same start point, there were paths to suit everything from a quick stroll to an afternoon’s exercise.

They had been walking there ever since they had moved here 10 years ago – in fact, apart from being nearer to her parents, it was the chief reason they had moved to this town.

It had all started with short walks to get accustomed but very quickly graduated to the more serious trails. Their favourite took them past the lake, which was large and beautiful and home to a whole variety of wild life. A bench was set in the optimum viewing position and, over the years, they had sat for hours, watching mallards, coots, moorhen and an occasional pair of grebes but their absolute favourite, in the spring, was to watch a pair of swans raise their awkward grey cygnets into elegant images of themselves.

The lake was fed by a small stream and, apart from the music of the tinkling water, a quite familiar sound – but a very rare sight – was that of ‘Ratty’, a fat little water vole, plopping into the water from one bank and paddling like fury to the safety of the other. For that pleasure they often had to sit quietly and patiently for a good long time – but it was always well worth the effort.

Another one of their pleasures was watching the birds and playing the game of counting how many different varieties they had seen that day. However, not being expert twitchers, far too many were the hard to classify, ‘little brown jobs’.

It was a very good life but they do say that all good things must come to an end and neither of them could ever have predicted the catastrophic event that was about to curtail their daily pleasure.

It was two kids – barely out of their teens – high on alcohol and who knows what else – in a stolen hot hatch. Frank and Marjorie were driving out to the Tescos Extra when the silver VW Gold came through the red traffic light and slammed into the driver’s side of their car. The Fiesta slewed around through 180 degrees and embedded itself in a large tree.

The kids tried to get away but a passing police patrol car quickly put a stop to that. The trial, which took forever to arrive, was long and tedious but eventually the correct verdict was pronounced, although the incorrect penalty imposed appeared completely inadequate.

Marjorie had escaped with relatively minor bruising but Frank, in the driver’s seat, had taken the full impact of the collision and his leg was badly broken. The surgeons worked a minor miracle and some sizeable chunks of metal were inserted to hold his leg back in place again. It took months before he was able to start the slow and painful ‘baby steps’ process of walking and it was only with his stubborn perseverance that he eventually arrived at some semblance of normality.

The Common was invaluable to his recovery. They had started with some of the short stroll routes, studded with benches at regular intervals but it had taken a long time before he was able to graduate to the lake walk again. However, by spring, he forced himself to reach the lake in time to watch the cygnets hatch.

Life had returned to near normality and he was relaxing more into his stride, which made the long walks less painful and more pleasurable. However, it wasn’t long before fate took another bizarre twist. They were walking to the car park when suddenly a small blur of brown burst from the trees and out into the roadway. There was a scream of brakes and a sickening thump.

Frank hurried as fast as he could out onto the road and, to his horror, he could see that it was a very young deer with its hind leg at an impossible angle. He had less idea of the types of deer than he did of the birds but that fact was irrelevant as he tried to subdue the animal in its frenzy of panic. He threw his coat over it, which not only kept it warn but also helped to reduce its movement. He kept up a steady stream of soft and soothing words, telling it of his own broken leg and how it had been successfully repaired and generally talking complete nonsense – but the animal, although still shaking with fear and pain, appeared to be settling. The car driver was an elderly lady who appeared to be in complete shock at what had happened but she had the presence of mind to call the RSPCA.

He had no idea that there was an Animal Rescue Centre barely ten miles from them and he was impressed when the van turned up so quickly. The Rescue Officer took control and, with minimal fuss, expertly lifted the deer into the cage – it was all over in minutes.

The following day Frank called the centre and was told that the break was quite a simple one and, due to the young age of the animal, was operable and should heal well. He was delighted to hear it and asked if he would be allowed to visit it. They were at first rather reluctant but when he changed tack and asked if they could become volunteers, that was very gratefully accepted.

Both he and Marjorie made weekly visits to the centre and they thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with the wide varieties of animals that came into care. However, where the deer was concerned, they were asked to keep contact down to a minimum in order to preserve his natural fear of humans for when he was released.

They were in perfect agreement and made no attempt to get close to him but every time he passed by, Frank was so happy to see that the deer always seemed to stop and make eye contact with him.

It was several months before the deer – who had been named Charlie – was deemed fit to go and Frank and Marjorie were invited to be present at the release. The van was driven to the point of the accident and the cage was lifted towards the edge of the woods. When the door was opened, a considerably larger animal than the one who they had first seen, flew out without a second glance and disappeared into the trees. Frank was a little disappointed but he was so pleased that Charlie was back home and safe again.

Before the day of the accident, neither of them had seen Charlie, or any other deer for that matter, in The Common – they were clearly very secretive animals. However, now that they knew of his existence, they made a point of pausing their walk at a bench that had a clear view of that particular part of the woods. They sat there regularly and for extended periods but it was all to no avail, Charlie was clearly very people-shy after his experience.

Marjorie was the voice of reason; she was sad seeing Frank getting so upset at not seeing the deer and she tried to encourage him not to be so obsessive. Reluctantly Frank agreed and they set off from the bench, through the edge of the wooded area and back towards the car park. As they rounded a corner, the sight stopped them both in their tracks. There in the middle of the path was a large deer with impressive, though juvenile, antlers. The deer turned to run but it stopped and turned back. It met Frank’s gaze and, for a few delightful moments they stared at each other. Then, with a toss of its head, it turned and disappeared into the woods.

They never saw Charlie again but that one magical moment would stay with them forever.