JULY 24TH, 2008….. TERRY BENN`S FUNERAL. TALK TURNED, AS IT DOES WHEN YOU REACH A CERTAIN AGE AND YOU MEET UP ON OCCASIONS LIKE THAT, TO THE COLLEAGUES WE KNEW, AND WHERE MIGHT SOME OF THEM BE, AND ONE NAME THAT CROPPED UP WAS PETER BOURNE, THAT ALWAYS SMILING, DRY HUMOURED BIG MAN OF SALES FROM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.
T.C.(TREVOR) SNOWBALL THOUGHT THAT HE WAS STILL AROUND, BUT JOHN JUDSON SAID THAT HE HAD SADLY DIED " A FEW YEARS AGO", BECAUSE RON AIREY HAD GONE TO HIS FUNERAL. THIS VIEW OBVIOUSLY CARRYING WEIGHT (SORRY JJ), TC DECIDED HE WOULD CONFIRM, AND LET US KNOW, AND AT THE WEEKEND, HE DIALLED THE LAST PHONE NUMBER HE HAD FOR PETER. SAD TO SAY, HE SPOKE TO PETER`S WIDOW JUDITH, WHO CONFIRMED THAT PETER HAD IN FACT DIED IN MAY 2007, AFTER A 15 MONTH ILLNESS.
APPARENTLY THE BIG FELLA KNEW HE WAS SHORT OF TIME, BUT STILL PRESENTED THE SAME SMILING FACE TO THE WORLD. HIS DAUGHTER BROUGHT FORWARD HER WEDDING BY A FEW MONTHS SO THAT PETER WOULD BE THERE, AND SO HE WAS.
JUDITH TOLD TC THAT OVER THE YEARS, PETER HAD ONLY FOND MEMORIES OF THE HODGE, AND THE FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES HE HAD WORKED & SOCIALISED WITH THERE, AND A SMILE WAS NEVER FAR AWAY WHEN HE RECALLED THOSE TIMES.
PETER BOURNE…………… ANOTHER NICE BLOKE.
WE HAVE ONE LITTLE ANECDOTE ABOUT PETER AT THE HODGE, THERE ARE POSSIBLY MANY, MOSTLY UNPRINTABLE PROBABLY, THIS ONE RELATED BY D.L.(DAVID )TAYLOR…. TEREX SALES SCHOOL IN NEWHOUSE…. FLEET OF JBH CARS HEADING NORTH UP THE M6… BOURNE DRIVING AROUND THE 100MPH MARK, WHEN SUDDENLY MR PLOD ARRIVES ALONGSIDE IN HIS JAM SANDWICH, AND PULLS THEM OVER.
PLOD APPROACHES THE DRIVERS DOOR, PB WINDS DOWN THE WINDOW SAYING `GOOD AFTERNOON OFFICER, CAN I HELP YOU ?’….PLOD TAKES OUT HIS BOOK, BUT BEFORE HE CAN START HIS PRE-AMBLE, HIS MATE CALLS HIM BACK TO SAY THAT THERE IS A BIGGER PROBLEM UP AHEAD, AND THAT THEY HAD BEEN CALLED TO IT……..PLOD ADVISES PB THAT `YOU WERE LUCKY THIS TIME SIR, BETTER BE ON YOUR WAY…..SLOWLY !!’
PB EVER THE GENTLEMAN, THANKED HIM POLITELY, AT LEAST WHILE WITHIN EARSHOT, AND LEGGED IT TO SCOTLAND. THE STRANGE COINCIDENCE, WAS THAT ALSO ON THAT SAME DAY, M.S.(MARTIN) EDE HAD RUN OUT OF PETROL ON THE M6 ON THE SAME TRIP………
WOULDN`T IT BE MARVELLOUS IF MSE WAS THE REASON PB DIDN`T GET BOOKED.
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