Latest / AbersochPodcast / Dogs, Dating and Dunking | How Cold Water Changed Andrew & Clare’s Lives

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Dogs, Dating and Dunking | How Cold Water Changed Andrew & Clare’s Lives · AbersochPodcast

• 0:11
  Today, dear listeners, we're diving into something a little
• 0:15
  warmer than usual, the first official Abasot dunker's
• 0:19
  romance. Yes, between the splashes, the
• 0:23
  storms and the slightly steamy beach hot chats, love blossomed.
• 0:28
  Meet Claire, ex Army Donk handler, police K9 expert,
• 0:34
  adrenaline junkie and full time energy machine.
• 0:38
  From patrolling high risk zones in Northern Ireland to expertly
• 0:42
  wrangling canines and the occasional wire wire.
• 0:45
  Why? I'll say it in a minute.
• 0:47
  Wine, fuel, tail. Claire brings more than just
• 0:50
  discipline to the dunking scene, she brings sparkle.
• 0:54
  And then there's Andrew, early morning beach lover, dog dog,
• 0:59
  dad to Meg and the man who thinks a 3000 mile drive is just
• 1:04
  a scenic day out in the country. Once a motor garage boss, now a
• 1:09
  housing assessor making British homes warmer, Andrew's got a
• 1:13
  heart. A heart as reliable as his van
• 1:15
  engine. He's also a card carrying
• 1:18
  gentleman dunker, but we'll say no more about that at this
• 1:21
  point. Together, they're the Dunkers
• 1:24
  after after hours duo partial to a pub quiz, a long walk and,
• 1:30
  yes, a cheeky tipple. Their story is 1 of camaraderie,
• 1:34
  canine loyalty and the unexpected magic of seaside
• 1:37
  community life. TuneIn to see how our how army
• 1:42
  discipline met abbasop charm and whether falling in love in
• 1:45
  freezing water makes it all that more special.
• 1:49
  Andrew and Claire, hi. Hello.
• 1:52
  Thank you for joining me. And this is and there's Meg.
• 1:55
  Yeah, Yeah, we've got the background of Meg here.
• 1:59
  And that's absolutely fine. It's it's very much a chat round
• 2:03
  the kitchen table, as you know. So tell me, dunking, dunking.
• 2:08
  Andrew, you were into dunking before you met Claire or.
• 2:12
  Before I met Claire, but not before I met the Duncas in
• 2:15
  Abasot. I think it's four years this
• 2:18
  October. Have you been dunking that long?
• 2:20
  Yeah. I have, yeah.
• 2:21
  I walked down the lane from the beach one morning.
• 2:23
  I'm just having had a walk on the beach.
• 2:26
  The 2 ladies with towels wrapped around the hair obviously been
• 2:28
  in the water so I asked them have you been swimming and they
• 2:32
  said yes just come along every any morning. 8:00, 8/15 And the
• 2:35
  dunk was going in the water. Oh, so I think it was.
• 2:38
  October 4 years ago. Wow.
• 2:39
  I'm guessing that's probably Hattie.
• 2:42
  It probably wasn't Hattie and Emma I.
• 2:43
  Can't remember it was now, but I think you are just two ladies
• 2:46
  walking off the beach, right? So I think it probably was
• 2:48
  Hattie always used to have that turban, right?
• 2:51
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. It would have been, yes.
• 2:53
  And and that was four years, October.
• 2:55
  Yeah, this October, four years. But isn't it brilliant?
• 2:58
  Yeah, never wrote back since. Claire, how long have you been
• 3:00
  there dunking? Probably since July last year,
• 3:03
  OK. Why?
• 3:05
  But I actually thought you were all bonkers when I first met
• 3:08
  you. When Andrew first said that he
• 3:11
  did dunking down in Abersoch, I did think he was slightly mad
• 3:14
  and I wonder what I was getting into.
• 3:16
  And then I decided that I would give it a go on my 60th birthday
• 3:19
  last year, which is what I did. Brilliant, brilliant.
• 3:22
  What a birthday present. It was actually what, an
• 3:25
  initiation. Yeah, more, more of that.
• 3:28
  Yeah, exactly. Mind you, that's, it's not
• 3:31
  really such a big deal from what you've been through, is it?
• 3:33
  You've no, you've had lots of initiations, I guess.
• 3:36
  Yes, just a. Few, just a few, absolutely so.
• 3:40
  And obviously 2 worlds that have come apart come together rather
• 3:45
  on the beach and in the surf. Sometimes we get it really quite
• 3:50
  rough, don't we? But that never bothers you guys,
• 3:53
  does it? Doesn't mean I don't go, it's
• 3:55
  really, but the waves are quite high.
• 3:56
  I won't go in really. No, I do what Andy, Andy Cheek
• 4:00
  often says and make your decision on the beach and if
• 4:02
  it's really, really WAVY, I won't go in.
• 4:04
  No, no. But isn't it?
• 4:05
  It's strange how so often it's better on the beach than it is.
• 4:09
  Oh. Absolutely.
• 4:10
  Even from a short distance from both talking down, it could be
• 4:13
  not great at the top. If you get either be just feels
• 4:16
  a bit warm and a bit brighter for some reason.
• 4:17
  Yeah, it's strange. Yeah, yeah, it must be the light
• 4:20
  reflecting but and though up here in Minnatho because we get
• 4:23
  a lot of the mist, the the famous Minnatho mist, so the
• 4:28
  Anderte. Sunshine.
• 4:29
  And the Anderte Sunshine, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 4:31
  So Claire, do you have any pre dunk routines?
• 4:37
  Prepare yourself with three paracetamols and two eye brufen.
• 4:41
  No I don't, I just get up and get Andrew Biggs big cup of tea
• 4:43
  and then we walk down with Meg. Maggie's the driving force
• 4:46
  behind getting us out of bed in the morning.
• 4:49
  She's a three-year, well she's 3 next week actually.
• 4:51
  She's a Welsh colleague from Anglesey and she's the one that
• 4:55
  runs the runs the house and the show and if we are not awake in
• 4:58
  time and she will bark until she's allowed out the door and
• 5:02
  straight down to the beach. Yeah, she pretty much barks now
• 5:05
  when it's daylight now. 435 o'clock.
• 5:08
  She's barking. She wants to go to the beach.
• 5:10
  OK. She's really falling through
• 5:12
  routine and she loves chasing the ball down the beach in the
• 5:14
  morning. Yeah, sitting there while we
• 5:15
  swim and then dog ice cream footprints on the way back.
• 5:19
  A dog ice cream. She's lucky once.
• 5:21
  A dog ice cream. Dog ice cream?
• 5:23
  What? It's a dog ice cream.
• 5:24
  Oh, it's she's. Just discovered it.
• 5:26
  Hasn't she announced from the norm?
• 5:27
  A small tub of I don't. Know what's?
• 5:30
  In it, taste it. How to taste?
• 5:32
  It no Kathy tasted. I think somebody tasted it and
• 5:36
  said it would just taste like even ice cream.
• 5:38
  So yeah. But Meg loves it.
• 5:39
  And it probably. Is it's so lovely sitting at
• 5:41
  Footprints, isn't it, on a during the summer months, just
• 5:44
  sitting out there watching the world go by and have a coffee
• 5:46
  and chatting. Yeah, it's a great day.
• 5:49
  Yeah, yeah. We start the morning.
• 5:50
  So as far as dunking goes, have you dunked anywhere else besides
• 5:55
  have a single? Seat, my son had got married
• 5:58
  last year in Charter Bay and there was one of his her family.
• 6:02
  Haley's family member came from Cornwall and she's part of the
• 6:04
  Cornwall dunking scene. OK.
• 6:06
  And so we were the only ones out that morning in with hangovers
• 6:10
  in the rain in Charter Bay, right post wedding dunk right
• 6:14
  and it cleared the hangover ready for breakfast it.
• 6:17
  Does work, doesn't it? It does work.
• 6:19
  I was very skeptical, but no, I'm a firm believer.
• 6:23
  When you've had a good night, you must have a good dunk.
• 6:26
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, we dunked. In Tenby last week, didn't we?
• 6:29
  Yeah, yeah, called the island. Where?
• 6:31
  Sorry. Called the island.
• 6:32
  Oh, did you? Yeah.
• 6:33
  Yeah. OK.
• 6:34
  Yeah, took off someies over there with some strange looks
• 6:36
  and people getting off the boat. Oh, right.
• 6:38
  Did they? They didn't have a group that
• 6:39
  you went down to. No, no.
• 6:40
  It's just an island off the shore of Tenby.
• 6:42
  You on a boat trip? And then we had a swim while
• 6:44
  waiting for the boat back, didn't we?
• 6:46
  Brilliant. But I've not done, I've not,
• 6:48
  I've not my chicken on one of the group walks where people go
• 6:51
  and the Donkers stoning group go and dunk in the mountains in
• 6:54
  Snowdonia. Oh, right.
• 6:56
  OK, great events. I've always been working when
• 6:59
  it's happened right. So I'd love to that one you.
• 7:01
  That was probably one of your 3000 mile trips, actually,
• 7:04
  Andrew. Yeah, yeah.
• 7:06
  Your, your reputation proceeds you the amount of miles that you
• 7:10
  do just to get to a job. We'll come to that.
• 7:12
  We'll come to that in a minute. But so you must, yes.
• 7:16
  I mean, the bottom line is you've got to join us because
• 7:19
  while swimming is is great and The Walking path is obviously a
• 7:23
  a firm favorite of destination from here.
• 7:27
  Yeah, so, and we'll get Claire in there and into the running
• 7:30
  streams and into the little waterfalls.
• 7:33
  Absolutely, having done Snowden first.
• 7:36
  Oh yes, yeah, you do like walking, don't you?
• 7:39
  I like Snowden and I like the Canevi as well.
• 7:42
  Do you? The Canevi is less busy.
• 7:44
  OK. It's I think it's more
• 7:45
  interesting and it's a lot less busy with people.
• 7:48
  Is it farther to get to from here?
• 7:50
  I normally park in Labour and Greg in OK on the edge of the 55
• 7:54
  and just go Ridge hop from there.
• 7:56
  Walk to the top and just Ridge hop.
• 7:57
  Just pick a mountain on the OS map and head for it.
• 7:59
  Wow. Just like that?
• 8:01
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 8:02
  So tell me, why do you do it? What?
• 8:05
  Well, I, when I retired from the police about 8 years ago, I was,
• 8:08
  I was absolutely done in, I'd done 30 years and I'd had
• 8:11
  enough, right? And I retired, I'm from Anglesey
• 8:13
  originally and I, I went to the house in Anglesey and I just
• 8:18
  decided that I would head to the mountains for until it was all
• 8:21
  out of my system. Really.
• 8:22
  So I. Would wake up 1 morning and just
• 8:24
  pick a mountain and go for it or pick up if it wasn't if it was
• 8:27
  if the weather was bad because it's always important to look at
• 8:29
  the weather before you take out on these adventures.
• 8:31
  I I just open the OS map on Anglesey and close my eyes and
• 8:34
  just. Just put really somewhere
• 8:37
  essentially just pointed to mountain and that's how you go.
• 8:40
  My eyes. And just because Anglesey is
• 8:41
  beautiful, Anglesey's got some stunning rocks as well, right?
• 8:43
  Really, I love it. It's my as much as I love living
• 8:46
  here, it is my spiritual home. Yeah, Anglesey is.
• 8:48
  Yeah. Were you there long?
• 8:50
  I just brought up there. I moved there when I was two in
• 8:53
  a village called San Henadal near Valley.
• 8:55
  I went to Holyhead School and then when I left school, that's
• 8:58
  when I joined the Army. OK, so Welsh speaker.
• 9:02
  Dipping back, dipping back. I did it at school and had I
• 9:04
  known what I know now I would have.
• 9:05
  I would have paid much more attention.
• 9:07
  Would you really to male. Level, yes.
• 9:08
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sorry, this is Meg.
• 9:11
  Meg's the trolling round the table.
• 9:13
  Not looking like a tennis ball. And that's the that's the
• 9:16
  panting. It's not to Andrew.
• 9:17
  That's the so so tell me. I mean, I'm really intrigued
• 9:23
  about this. So it obviously was therapy for
• 9:26
  you after after 30 years to just say, is it was it the the solace
• 9:31
  that you were seeking or was it was it the, the excitement or
• 9:36
  was it what was it? No.
• 9:37
  I think it's the peace and quiet, was it?
• 9:39
  And they're not having the radio blaring in your ear and not
• 9:42
  having people shouting and yelling at you all the time.
• 9:44
  And not, you know, you can't please anybody, it seems, these
• 9:47
  days when you're a police officer, you know, it's just
• 9:50
  nice not to have that pull, you know, of.
• 9:53
  I was dying, Guildford in Surrey, and there wasn't enough
• 9:56
  staff on the rota. And it was just job after job
• 9:59
  after job. And you never got a minute's
• 10:00
  piece. And then you would work overtime
• 10:02
  and then you would ever get home on time.
• 10:04
  It was just a big pull. When you're young, I think it's
• 10:07
  fine. But when you get some sort of
• 10:08
  like, well, 56, it's a bit much rolling on Guildford's High
• 10:12
  Street with, you know, Duncan teenagers thinking, why am I
• 10:16
  doing this? Absolutely.
• 10:19
  And the drunken teenagers is asking exactly at the same why
• 10:21
  are you doing this? Yeah, yeah.
• 10:22
  So I think that was it. And also it was just the the
• 10:27
  exercise I because I love, I love the exercise.
• 10:30
  And quite meditative. It is very meditative.
• 10:33
  Is it really? And the people you.
• 10:35
  I walk in Snowden very early one morning and I met a guy there in
• 10:38
  his 70s and he lived in Bethesda all his life.
• 10:41
  And he would just once a week, once two weeks, walk up there
• 10:46
  and just. Really, that was that was his
• 10:48
  way of that was his. Way and I was up there on one.
• 10:50
  There was three of us up there. It was a very early morning.
• 10:52
  I had a different dog then called Bella and she actually
• 10:54
  went into his knapsack and ate his ham sandwiches, which you
• 10:58
  can't replace. That's no.
• 10:59
  Clearly it's. The morning, but he was fired
• 11:01
  about it because he had a collie as well.
• 11:04
  Yeah, and that collie ate yours, I hope.
• 11:06
  No. I don't eat mine by that, I eat
• 11:08
  my mouth way up. I couldn't wait do.
• 11:11
  You know, you just like soon she packs up for a lunch and then
• 11:14
  come 5 past 11 and she's into her sandwiches and into her nuts
• 11:17
  and goodness, there was what? So what did you find you were
• 11:21
  doing to sort of just chill off? Because joking apart 3000 miles
• 11:25
  or however many you did in a week was just crazy.
• 11:28
  Yeah, I just can't wait to get back here.
• 11:30
  Yeah, just just too long behind the wheel.
• 11:32
  It is, yeah. Yeah, I, I was probably like a
• 11:35
  lot of Dunk because a lot of it's just in my blood.
• 11:37
  I came here when I was one year old, stayed in a farm in clan
• 11:41
  anger for quite a few years and the B&B and then fortunate to
• 11:44
  have a property here. And I just can't wait to get
• 11:46
  back here. And I've always felt that way.
• 11:49
  I suppose really I've always wanted to live here.
• 11:51
  I knew I knew I was going to live here one day.
• 11:53
  Did you? Finding a way to.
• 11:54
  Get it was. Yeah, yeah.
• 11:56
  And. Bringing the bringing the when
• 11:58
  and how together, Yeah. Doesn't disappoint.
• 12:00
  I mean, I obviously know I travel all over the UK, I've
• 12:02
  been to Kansas, 6 S Coast, Portsmouth, Southampton, all
• 12:06
  over the different coastlines and there's nowhere as nice this
• 12:10
  past. Devon and Cornwall are lovely as
• 12:11
  well, but I've not come across anywhere like this.
• 12:14
  No. The beaches we've got and the
• 12:15
  cafes and the facility, it's just amazing place and having
• 12:20
  the dunkers has just made it even better because now you can
• 12:23
  walk down and you've got friendly faces, chatter and
• 12:25
  banter on the beach. It's just a great way of life.
• 12:29
  So your early, I mean, your early life was very much sort of
• 12:32
  things like the car trade, wasn't it?
• 12:34
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, my dad was in the motor
• 12:37
  trade and he did well. So my brother and I thought,
• 12:39
  well, he can do it, we can. So we set up a used car
• 12:42
  dealership. Then one day somebody from Skoda
• 12:46
  came along, said would you be interested in taking a Skoda
• 12:48
  franchise? That was when they had the old
• 12:50
  fashioned Rapids and Estelles and everything.
• 12:53
  And we laughed and snegered for a while.
• 12:54
  Then we thought, well, that's probably not a bad idea because
• 12:56
  Volkswagen, we're about to take over, OK.
• 12:59
  So we thought, well, probably we'll get better cars, you know,
• 13:01
  they will improve. And so we took on Skoda
• 13:07
  franchise in the end and had several great years.
• 13:09
  Yeah, it was the law of the dealers were family owned,
• 13:12
  right. And these go on trips every
• 13:15
  year. So every year Skoda pay for all
• 13:17
  the dealers and the families to go away for a week.
• 13:19
  So it took us to Florida, it took us to Cyprus and didn't
• 13:22
  place us just on freebies. It was great.
• 13:24
  This was the time to be in the. Motor.
• 13:26
  So yeah, it's changed now. It's all corporates now and it's
• 13:28
  changed a lot now, yeah, yeah. But yeah, that's with a nice
• 13:32
  start to that. Because at that time the motor
• 13:34
  industry or certainly the motor retail industry was very much
• 13:38
  made-up of of entrepreneurs independence.
• 13:41
  Wasn't it? Absolutely, Yeah.
• 13:42
  The the big, the the big conglomerates never really sort
• 13:45
  of connected into them. No, no, no, even when my dad
• 13:49
  started in the would be about mid 60s.
• 13:53
  No about probably 1970 the new car dealers didn't sell used
• 13:58
  cars. They took apart exchanges and
• 14:00
  just traded them straight out to to auctions and other motor
• 14:03
  traders. So they'd sell new cars and not
• 14:05
  used cars. So it's that easy to go and find
• 14:08
  used cars to sell them. So he did well out of it.
• 14:11
  Very well. Yeah.
• 14:11
  Yeah. He had Toyota franchises and he
• 14:15
  went all over the world with Toyota.
• 14:16
  I was going to say that as part. Even then, that must have been a
• 14:19
  license to write to write checks.
• 14:21
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's no discount on any car.
• 14:23
  You had full margin on every car people just walked to.
• 14:25
  Can I have that one, you say? Yes, that's pricing.
• 14:27
  That was it. Yeah, Simple way of doing
• 14:30
  business. Take the negotiation bit out of.
• 14:33
  It absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 14:36
  So they did very well. Good.
• 14:38
  And Paul Knight as well as well my brother and I.
• 14:39
  We as well, yeah. Yeah.
• 14:41
  And then things changed, didn't they?
• 14:43
  Yeah, they do. Yeah.
• 14:44
  We had a garage site which we needed to move to bigger
• 14:47
  premises. So we did found bigger.
• 14:49
  Just simply because of the success.
• 14:50
  Skoda told us no, Skoda. Oh, yeah, They got start to get
• 14:53
  a bit more dictatorial. So we start saying you've got to
• 14:55
  put these floor tiles down, just paint walls this color.
• 14:58
  You must wear these uniforms. And the same most manufacturers
• 15:01
  start to get more and more dictatorial.
• 15:04
  So our premises weren't big enough, so we had to move.
• 15:06
  So we found new premises and we were about to sell the old site
• 15:10
  and I thought why not build some houses?
• 15:12
  OK, this is in two. 1000 and six 2007 So I sat with an architect
• 15:17
  and we designed a scheme. We're getting 13 town houses on
• 15:20
  site and started building. Got halfway up and then the
• 15:24
  financial crash came in 2008, so all the money we would have made
• 15:28
  just disappeared out the window. Really.
• 15:30
  Yeah, absolutely. Just as dramatic as that.
• 15:32
  Dramatic as that. Yeah, on one day, off the next,
• 15:35
  completely. Wow.
• 15:36
  And I got interviewed because I think the local BBC Radio
• 15:39
  Nottingham wanted to interview somebody about housing crash,
• 15:42
  right? So they came and interviewed me
• 15:44
  and asked me how I felt and obviously felt disappointed.
• 15:47
  But then next thing they said, can you do a slot on the BBC
• 15:51
  6:00 News with Hugh Edwards? Which you did.
• 15:54
  Which you did, yeah. Yeah, So trying to say, well,
• 15:57
  it's not too bad, but it was bad.
• 15:58
  It wasn't brilliant. No, I ended up working.
• 16:00
  I ended up working three years for nothing but not making penny
• 16:03
  really. I'm actually get out of.
• 16:04
  It. Yeah, yeah.
• 16:05
  Yeah, well, I do enjoy property developing.
• 16:08
  Yes, yeah. But that's.
• 16:09
  Did you not really enjoy cars as much?
• 16:11
  No, I didn't. No.
• 16:13
  I'm not really gone off the the the boil by that.
• 16:15
  Yeah, yeah. I'm not really a salesperson,
• 16:18
  but I I stuck at it for a few years.
• 16:20
  Yeah, I prefer property. Yeah, but then because I was
• 16:24
  doing a property with a young guy who was a builder, he'd told
• 16:27
  me about the retrofit surveys which I do now, and that enables
• 16:31
  me to work anywhere in the country virtually.
• 16:32
  So when I found the job in North Wales it was perfect.
• 16:35
  It was, wasn't it? Yeah.
• 16:36
  So again, because you could, you could live.
• 16:38
  Here make you live around the area and just travel back and
• 16:40
  come travel away and come back each day, yeah, two or three
• 16:43
  days away and come back. Yeah, yeah.
• 16:45
  Yeah, that's why I'm still here now.
• 16:47
  Well, and your previous life, Claire, was very much cotton
• 16:52
  Trust we did. We did discover that your garage
• 16:54
  was in Melton Mowbray and I was. I was in Melton Mowbray in the
• 16:57
  military at the time on my dog training course.
• 16:59
  No, really, we. Were both in Melton Mowbray at
• 17:01
  the same time. We said I think I was a bit too
• 17:03
  wild from at that. What you were although dog?
• 17:06
  Was so me, I was, I was 2122 at that point and I was still very
• 17:10
  much a bit of a party animal, so I think.
• 17:12
  I've been a bit OK. So, so when you to to to be a
• 17:16
  dog trainer in the military or the police I guess, but the
• 17:19
  military first, do you have to be an enlisted personnel first?
• 17:23
  You did this was this was back in 8485?
• 17:28
  No, it must be 8586. And I just left Northern Ireland
• 17:33
  and my major, all my boxes, all my kit was going out to Detmold
• 17:37
  in Germany. And he just walked in one day
• 17:39
  and I had about 3 days left over there.
• 17:41
  And he said, oh, you're not going there now.
• 17:42
  You're going to Milton Mowbridge to be a dog handler.
• 17:45
  And I just went, well, my kids in Germany supposed to get it
• 17:47
  back then. This is such a military thing,
• 17:49
  just get it back. He said.
• 17:50
  You won't need a lot in Melton Mowbray anyway.
• 17:51
  It's all this nuts. I couldn't believe it.
• 17:53
  And then I was sort of in three days I was on a flight back from
• 17:56
  Northern Ireland to Heathrow and getting picked up and taken to
• 17:59
  Melton Mowbray with hardly any kicks.
• 18:01
  What were you doing in Northern Dog?
• 18:03
  No, there's no advance notice then in Northern Ireland about
• 18:06
  being a dog trainer. No, well, no, I had three days
• 18:09
  and that that was, I was lucky that was, you know, yeah,
• 18:12
  normally you get about months of notice to to move, right.
• 18:16
  But this was he just said, well, I was one of the first three
• 18:19
  female dog handlers in the Army. And because the Army just
• 18:22
  decided at that point they were going to have female dog
• 18:24
  handlers. OK.
• 18:26
  He just walked. In because of pressure.
• 18:28
  I think the world was coming round to the fact that women had
• 18:30
  a place in the military, yeah. Cause up until then they could
• 18:33
  equally they could do any job more or less the same.
• 18:35
  Yeah, yeah, there wasn't that many women that stayed cause at
• 18:38
  that point in the Army, if you got, if you were pregnant, you
• 18:41
  couldn't stay in, OK, you'd stay in marriage.
• 18:43
  But if you had a baby, you instantly had to go.
• 18:45
  Really. Yeah, you're right.
• 18:46
  So if you were married and then and got pregnant, you'd be out.
• 18:49
  Yeah, you'd be out, but you'd. Be married and not have.
• 18:51
  Children stay in, but you couldn't have children.
• 18:53
  So the the fallout was quite high.
• 18:55
  Yeah. And so a lot of the military
• 18:58
  just thought we were just there for a couple of years and we
• 19:00
  weren't worth investing in. And then someone decided,
• 19:02
  actually we need to get ahead on this because this is not how it
• 19:05
  should be. No.
• 19:06
  No. And yeah, Major Hayes just
• 19:07
  walked in and said you're off to Melton Mobile.
• 19:10
  I didn't even know who it was, Right?
• 19:11
  I'd heard pork pies, obviously, but I didn't.
• 19:14
  Know I tasted a few. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 19:16
  And the next thing I know, I'm in Melton Mowbray learning how
• 19:19
  to be a dog handler. Right.
• 19:21
  So before you, before that you were still in the military,
• 19:24
  you'd been to Northern Ireland. How many tours did you?
• 19:26
  Do in. I did 1.
• 19:27
  I did 1. I did a two year tour.
• 19:29
  I did go back to Colchester from training depot, yeah, which is
• 19:32
  an exercise platoon and so I was never there.
• 19:35
  We were always out on exercise, living in the back of Land
• 19:37
  Rovers and and tents and all sorts.
• 19:40
  And then I got a week's notice for that move.
• 19:43
  I came back one day and it's post on orders.
• 19:45
  You go to Northern Ireland next week.
• 19:48
  So like the the military works I'm afraid.
• 19:49
  Yeah, Yeah. They don't give you a lot of
• 19:50
  thinking time do. They and you know, when you're
• 19:52
  18, you don't really care you just no, you're OK I'm often.
• 19:55
  With a lot of females in, I mean, we're just talking about
• 19:57
  females and about the fact that the, the, the, the sort of
• 20:01
  consensus of opinion was that the, the flag needed to be
• 20:04
  raised a bit and females need to be sort of put into positions of
• 20:08
  influence and, and, and obviously seen.
• 20:11
  Was that the same in Northern Ireland or was it the the did
• 20:14
  you have the same sort of visibility?
• 20:16
  I I. You know, I think the Northern
• 20:18
  Ireland's a whole different kind of fish.
• 20:19
  I think because of the situation up there in the 80s, I don't
• 20:22
  think anyone cared what sex you were.
• 20:23
  You all, it was all about looking after each other, right?
• 20:27
  Were the trouble still? Yes.
• 20:29
  Just still. In fact, it took me a long while
• 20:31
  to stop looking under my car. When I used to come home on
• 20:33
  leave, I used to check into the car and it was a good year, 12
• 20:36
  months when I was finished there that I would stop looking under
• 20:39
  my car, checking for anything that's underneath.
• 20:41
  Right, right. Because that was just the modus
• 20:43
  operandi. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 20:45
  And and you were with whereabouts in Northern Ireland?
• 20:47
  I was in Lisbon and then I was in South Elmar.
• 20:51
  OK. OK.
• 20:52
  So the sort of places that you hear about or if you, yeah, of
• 20:55
  our age, you can remember you used to feature on the news.
• 20:58
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Meg's getting involved.
• 21:01
  In the YouTube, you stay there Meg, that's absolutely fine.
• 21:05
  I didn't know we'd have 3 guests today.
• 21:06
  But we've got 3 guests. She likes to be involved.
• 21:08
  Don't you, Meggy Moo? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 21:10
  So that was the just a part of your life.
• 21:12
  And when you came back and you went to Melbourne, Melton
• 21:15
  Mowbray, you thought, OK, here we go.
• 21:17
  Yeah. And that was interesting because
• 21:21
  because it was because we were the first three females to do
• 21:24
  it. We weren't well liked to be.
• 21:26
  We got there. It was a bit some of the.
• 21:29
  The animosity. Yeah, yeah.
• 21:31
  And some blessing. The kennel mates thought, well,
• 21:33
  this isn't fair because we, we'd look after these dogs.
• 21:35
  Why can't we be dog handlers? And like I, I got that, yeah,
• 21:38
  yeah. But we got, because, you know,
• 21:40
  we just got on with it and made friends with them.
• 21:43
  And yeah, there were a lovely bunch of girls, right?
• 21:47
  And, and the Household Cavalry trained there as well at the
• 21:48
  same time. OK, It's, AH, cavalier.
• 21:51
  And so it was horses and dogs. OK, OK.
• 21:54
  So you all had to pull together, really.
• 21:56
  Right. So yes, my perception would be
• 21:58
  that the whoever looks after the dog is the dog handler, but
• 22:01
  clearly not. Well, it's a training school, so
• 22:03
  the kennel maids helped the dog handlers bring the dogs on,
• 22:07
  right. And then handlers were coming
• 22:08
  from different regiments. They were trained dogs to go to
• 22:12
  Northern Ireland. I mean, my dog was trained on
• 22:14
  drugs. OK.
• 22:15
  So they were training dogs similar to police.
• 22:17
  They were training dogs because most of the army camps at that
• 22:19
  time had dog patrols to patrol. So there's a high Turner of
• 22:23
  dogs. What's that?
• 22:24
  That were gifted by by members of the public.
• 22:26
  Oh really? Yeah.
• 22:27
  OK. Oh, so this is not so dissimilar
• 22:30
  to Guide Dogs? And it's not dissimilar to a lot
• 22:33
  of police dogs really in this country, gifted as well.
• 22:36
  OK, so. Unless they start a training
• 22:38
  program. Sorry, police have got a
• 22:39
  training program, have they? But they still accept gift dogs,
• 22:44
  Labradors, spanners and Collies. So good not just you don't just
• 22:48
  have to sort of or you can't just only support the dogs by
• 22:52
  giving a donation, you can actually give the dog you.
• 22:55
  Didn't give the dog in. I forgot to pass the test.
• 22:57
  I mean, I, I had a failed drugs dog in Surrey and he was a
• 23:02
  chocolate Labrador and he was called, he was called Bilbo
• 23:04
  Baggins. And he just, they, they throw
• 23:07
  the tennis ball to see if they retrieve it.
• 23:08
  And he just stood there and looked blankly at this tennis
• 23:11
  ball and then looked at people throwing the ball and went, what
• 23:14
  do I do? So he didn't, he didn't make the
• 23:16
  grade. And then someone said, oh, this
• 23:18
  dog's going to have to go back to the rescue place.
• 23:20
  And I just happened to be in that unit at that time.
• 23:22
  I said, oh, I'll have him give him to me.
• 23:24
  So he was beautiful. So you're allowed to keep.
• 23:26
  Him. Yeah, I'd like to keep him.
• 23:27
  Yeah. He's loved it.
• 23:28
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which and that's, I get the
• 23:31
  impression that's what the the dog handlers very much do.
• 23:35
  They they sort of make them part of their lives.
• 23:36
  Don't they do? And, and I've got a friend
• 23:38
  actually who I was northern and with, he's now a retired police
• 23:42
  officer in Anglesey and she's a dog handler and she's kept every
• 23:44
  one of her dogs, really. When they retired, Yeah.
• 23:47
  OK. Yeah, and her husband did and he
• 23:49
  was a, a, a, a dog handler in, in Northwest police.
• 23:52
  They both, they had loads of dogs, a big garden and yeah,
• 23:55
  they would never let their dogs go anywhere else because there's
• 23:58
  a definite bond between dogs and their dog handlers.
• 24:01
  Yeah, it's yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's, it's right up there.
• 24:04
  Quite special. Yeah, very.
• 24:06
  Yeah, yeah. I don't know whether you know,
• 24:07
  but one time for a number of years, Sue and I used to do
• 24:13
  puppy dogs for Guide Dogs and we did 6 / 7 or almost eight years.
• 24:20
  And the Cherry who we've got now was the 4th 1 and she was a
• 24:25
  particularly good dog and they thought they were going to breed
• 24:28
  from her. And clearly, because this is
• 24:31
  what Guide Dogs do, they always, and they can only pick from the
• 24:34
  best. They put her through all sorts
• 24:38
  of different tests and examinations.
• 24:41
  And she appeared to have a weakness in the front leg, so in
• 24:44
  the joint of her front leg. So it's never manifested itself,
• 24:48
  but we got the opportunity to, to, to buy her from them.
• 24:53
  But yeah, we did 6 and it was a wonderful period.
• 24:56
  How long did you keep them for? We used to get them at 7 weeks
• 25:00
  and we used to keep them until 14 months. 14 to 15 months
• 25:03
  didn't. You get.
• 25:05
  Attached to that. Oh totally.
• 25:06
  We were just Claire what you could just see Sue and I wrecked
• 25:10
  every every 14 or 15 months. We'd just be in a real estate
• 25:15
  and after the first couple, then we sort of it was just self
• 25:18
  preservation and stuff. Well, no, we didn't actually.
• 25:22
  We actually never ever man up that much.
• 25:25
  But we just got rounded by insisting that we had another
• 25:28
  one before we lost the 1st. This one.
• 25:30
  Yeah. So before that one went, we'd
• 25:33
  got this other and then this puppy would be maybe 3 months
• 25:36
  old by the time the first went. And it softened the blow.
• 25:39
  But we, you know, we did keep in touch.
• 25:41
  And not all Guide Dogs or guide dog owners do keep in touch.
• 25:46
  But we were fortunate. Most of ours did.
• 25:49
  And yeah, and we tried to do it again.
• 25:51
  But they won't. They don't have a scheme down
• 25:53
  here in North Wales. That's the shame.
• 25:55
  Yeah, yeah, the nearest is, is Manchester.
• 25:58
  But yeah, so very varied, very varied.
• 26:01
  Did you ever do anything as radical as dunking when you were
• 26:04
  in the army or? Oh my goodness.
• 26:06
  We went when I was in Colchester in the exercise platoon.
• 26:10
  We went on summer camp in January because again, that's
• 26:12
  the military thing, because we're an exercise all for the
• 26:15
  summer. The OC decided we'd have summer
• 26:17
  camp. I went to Towin Mary on Earth
• 26:20
  and and we arrived and I remember the Guard came under
• 26:22
  saying what's she doing here? And, and, and the captain went,
• 26:26
  well, she's part of her platoon. He said.
• 26:28
  Well, we began laughing. I was here, she had to go in the
• 26:30
  officer's mess and then the officers went, which can't come
• 26:32
  in our mess. So I ended up massage's mess in
• 26:34
  a room my own because they weren't expecting women.
• 26:37
  And then we went, we climbed a mountain and then we had to
• 26:40
  there was a zip line going from the top of the mountain into
• 26:43
  this this lake and it was frozen.
• 26:46
  And I remember being clipped up in my bra and knickers and
• 26:49
  T-shirt, being clipped up on this carabiner and being sent
• 26:53
  down this zip line. And the guy before me broke the
• 26:55
  ice, thankfully. And then I couldn't get out.
• 26:57
  My Caribbean got stuff. I couldn't get out, so the
• 26:59
  somebody else had to come across the water to Get Me Out.
• 27:02
  Oh, it's just chaos. It's carnage.
• 27:03
  And it was cold. I think it was cold if there was
• 27:06
  ice there. Bitterly, bitterly cold.
• 27:08
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah.
• 27:11
  So you literally broke the ice for the for that, sort of.
• 27:13
  Exercise it was, yeah. You were the Wim half of the
• 27:16
  regiment I'd. Rather not been the Wim of
• 27:19
  anything of that boy, I was supposed.
• 27:22
  Yeah, it was. It does.
• 27:23
  It does take a bit of doing sometimes, isn't it?
• 27:26
  Yeah. You know, it's, I've said to one
• 27:28
  or two people before on our podcast that it's the wind that
• 27:31
  catches you as much as anything. It's.
• 27:33
  Just not as difficult as trying to put your brow and knickers on
• 27:36
  really, with the towel and trying to not show the world
• 27:38
  world what you've got. And it's cold.
• 27:40
  OK. I find that apart from the fact
• 27:42
  that the water's cold in the morning, yeah, I find putting
• 27:44
  your underwear on slightly difficult and trying at times,
• 27:48
  Yes. Not that you know you'd be.
• 27:50
  Like, not that we were really that easy.
• 27:52
  I think that the hurdle of sort of, well, I'm going to go down
• 27:55
  dunking and who are these people?
• 27:57
  And I'm going to get undressed in front of them and then I've
• 27:59
  got to put my swimsuit on. And then you come out and you
• 28:02
  reverse the process. It's a bit.
• 28:04
  It says it's OK winter because you've got your dry Rd. bar and
• 28:07
  you can do all sorts under your dry Rd. but no one knows what's
• 28:09
  going on. But in the summer, slightly
• 28:11
  difficult, slightly more obvious what you're doing.
• 28:15
  Exactly, exactly. You don't go walking on one of
• 28:18
  your many hiking walks in your drive room, do you?
• 28:21
  No, I won't. No, I only, never.
• 28:22
  I'm only ever walk down and walk back.
• 28:24
  I've never been to Tescos. I've never been any shopping in
• 28:27
  there. You know, it's pretty chic if
• 28:30
  you lived in Manchester. Your dry robe, Bonnie.
• 28:33
  Whatever. Yeah.
• 28:35
  Can you not see yourself? Aren't you in the Arndale
• 28:37
  Center? In your dry robe?
• 28:39
  Yeah. Nice picture.
• 28:42
  Absolutely, absolutely. So just nipping back to Andrew a
• 28:46
  bit. So you're now really keeping
• 28:48
  people warm, aren't you? That's, that's what you, that's
• 28:51
  what you do. That's your mission in life.
• 28:53
  It's a it's a great mission. Grants are available from the
• 28:56
  British, UK government in Wales and England and Scotland, I
• 28:58
  assume. Well, this Scotland's I've been,
• 29:00
  I have worked there. If you qualify, you can get free
• 29:03
  solar panels, free heat pump, free insulation and it's a
• 29:07
  fantastic scheme. So yeah.
• 29:08
  How long has the scheme been going?
• 29:11
  I don't really know. I've been doing it four years.
• 29:13
  So he was going a couple of years before.
• 29:15
  That's probably about 5 or 6 years I'd imagine.
• 29:17
  Oh, right. OK.
• 29:18
  So yeah, the. Is this part of the Net 0 Green
• 29:21
  agenda? Yes, yeah, I think so.
• 29:23
  Yeah. So it's on ECO 4 now, so it must
• 29:26
  be an ECO 123 and 4. The scheme seems to change,
• 29:30
  qualification route seems to change as time goes by, but
• 29:33
  basically it's to improve the efficiency of a property.
• 29:36
  You've got a property with a very low EPC rating, FOG or
• 29:39
  something. They're trying to get it up to
• 29:40
  ABC so it's more efficient to run.
• 29:43
  Right. Anywhere off of mains gas really
• 29:47
  just about qualifies property wise because the mains gas is
• 29:50
  still the cheapest way to heat the property.
• 29:52
  Oh, even even with all this install the insulation except.
• 29:55
  So because if you obviously here there's no gas, hardly no apart
• 30:00
  from fairly, I think it's got gas in 1-2 areas, but there's
• 30:02
  not much gas around here. So it's all either LPG gas, oil
• 30:07
  or electric, right. And then all those properties
• 30:10
  are qualify because they'll have a low EPC rating.
• 30:13
  Right. OK.
• 30:14
  Yeah. So yes, as you say, tank gas or
• 30:19
  is. More expensive?
• 30:20
  Well, Maine's gas is still the cheapest form of heating.
• 30:23
  Do you think it will remain that because we we bring it in from
• 30:25
  all over the place now? I mean, we were bringing it in
• 30:27
  from Russia, weren't we? But we don't, we were, yeah,
• 30:29
  it's Finland now, isn't it? We get a lot from.
• 30:32
  A lot of gas, Norway. Is it Norway?
• 30:34
  Norway I think, right, because it actually is quite a large
• 30:37
  pipeline from Norway to Scotland, I suppose.
• 30:40
  Yeah. And there was talk about some
• 30:43
  the troubles are happening in the world at the moment.
• 30:45
  And if the Russians decided they could probably break that
• 30:47
  pipeline and there would be a bit stuck.
• 30:49
  So yeah, yeah, fuel security is obviously a big issue.
• 30:53
  It is, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 30:55
  I watched something Salmon Reeve on the the BBC catch up and he
• 31:02
  did 3A series of three in Scandinavia.
• 31:06
  They are worth watching. And he just talks about the five
• 31:09
  countries of Scandinavia and, and, and where the leverage
• 31:12
  comes from. And it was, yeah, you're right,
• 31:14
  it was Norway. And they would, the irony is
• 31:18
  that they just took the our licences that we've got, we've
• 31:22
  found all this oil and this gas and they just took it on the
• 31:26
  basis that we're going to supply it back at a very discounted
• 31:29
  rate. And now, hey, you know, who are
• 31:32
  we beholding to? Yeah, yeah, it's, yeah.
• 31:35
  Anyway, but that's a government. That's that's my moment at the
• 31:38
  government indirectly at any one time.
• 31:41
  So the the what I really want to sort of know I've got a little
• 31:44
  note here. Can love bloom when your toes
• 31:47
  are numb? Oh.
• 31:49
  Actually, in fairness, we need to be honest.
• 31:50
  We actually met online. Oh, did you?
• 31:52
  Yeah. Yeah, we met online.
• 31:54
  I've been on this website for a bit and I I was cheesed off and
• 31:58
  I thought and Andrew was the last person I'd given up.
• 32:02
  And then Andrew contacted me on on the website chat and I and
• 32:06
  because his photographed it was Abasok in the background and I
• 32:10
  knew Abasok because I love them. Anglesey Right.
• 32:12
  I thought, right one, I'm going to give this one last go, one
• 32:14
  last go. So you, you were very much my
• 32:17
  last. Bless you.
• 32:19
  Well, your pictures looked like you were skiing in the Alps.
• 32:22
  You got walking poles and of course, she was throwing snow in
• 32:25
  the background. So she looks an active outdoor
• 32:27
  sort of person, right? Yeah.
• 32:29
  And you've always walked. I mean, your little walk down to
• 32:32
  the beach is about two miles, isn't it?
• 32:34
  Yeah. Yeah, well, the Claire's taking
• 32:36
  it to a new level now. The last few mornings we get up
• 32:39
  at 5:30 right, leave the house just after six, walk around the
• 32:42
  head, down Porthqueria, round the headland, walk to Mickey's,
• 32:45
  then the full length of the beach, swim, then walk home.
• 32:49
  Gotta up your game, haven't. You, you've gotta up your game.
• 32:52
  Really. You have got to up your game.
• 32:54
  Yeah, but you gotta have somebody walk with that.
• 32:56
  Mind you, Maggie, well, she, she'll just be there.
• 32:58
  Yeah. She'll be out again this
• 33:00
  afternoon. Yeah, she will.
• 33:01
  Yeah. Yeah, as you said earlier in the
• 33:03
  interview, she's the one that sort of drives your agenda each
• 33:06
  day. Yeah, thankfully she does 'cause
• 33:08
  she gets us out and she's a joy to be with when she's out, she's
• 33:10
  lovely. Yeah, Yeah.
• 33:12
  So if somebody asked you directly and said, OK, what is
• 33:15
  it about the dunkers, absort dunkers that really sort of
• 33:19
  makes it sticky for you, the reason why you keep sort of
• 33:22
  doing it? What?
• 33:22
  What? Well, I when I lived in
• 33:24
  Anglesey, I lived in a village, but there wasn't the community
• 33:27
  spirit there is here. OK, so you find that that's
• 33:31
  really that's. Lovely.
• 33:32
  Yeah. And, and as I said, you can walk
• 33:35
  round Aborsalk and not a day goes by where someone doesn't
• 33:38
  say hello to you. No, Right.
• 33:40
  You meet somebody or, or if we're sitting outside the vinyl,
• 33:43
  somebody will stop by and our visit to the vinyl is extended
• 33:47
  somewhat because people sit down and meet, you know, have a chat
• 33:50
  and maybe another glass of wine. Yeah.
• 33:52
  So that, yeah, I like that. And I like the fact I love the
• 33:55
  walk from the dunk to the to Jeff's, Jeff's groin, so to
• 34:00
  speak, and back again. I love that because every time
• 34:02
  you walk, you walk and be someone different.
• 34:06
  And and of course, the coffee. Who can forget the coffee and
• 34:08
  footprints? The coffee and croissants and
• 34:10
  footprints. Two islands in winter.
• 34:11
  And two, what? Yeah.
• 34:12
  And two islands in winter. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 34:14
  And talking of pubs, you're a bit of a pair for quizzes,
• 34:18
  aren't you? We do like the quiz.
• 34:19
  Don't. We do Wednesday night, no.
• 34:20
  You do like the Wednesday night quiz in the Sun.
• 34:22
  Yeah, absolutely. Yes, and she didn't start until
• 34:25
  August midnight, didn't I? That's crazy. 9:00 where is it?
• 34:28
  The Sun. Yeah, the Sun and then
• 34:29
  Klanangen. Yeah.
• 34:30
  Good quiz. This is a good quiz.
• 34:32
  Very good quiz. Yeah, it's one of the best.
• 34:34
  Is it? Yeah.
• 34:35
  And you're pretty. I mean, I'm going to shout about
• 34:38
  your Don't be too modest. Well, we have Nigel and Warwick
• 34:41
  hoping as well. They are very good.
• 34:43
  And Mystic Mark used to come as well as you.
• 34:45
  Think he will. At the moment he's working on
• 34:48
  the island. But when he stops working on the
• 34:49
  island, he's going to start coming in winter again, right?
• 34:52
  And he might. Have to wait a bit longer, You
• 34:54
  know they've offered him an extension.
• 34:55
  Well, are they? Yes, rude.
• 34:57
  He can't take that. We need him back on the quiz.
• 34:58
  He do need him back, yes. Send him a message, Claire.
• 35:03
  He has to be missing. Claire makes me laugh because
• 35:05
  you get the quiz sheet can be films or music.
• 35:08
  So I don't know anything about that first question.
• 35:10
  I know that one second question. I know that one she.
• 35:12
  Knows so much. I was going to say who's the
• 35:13
  most competitive between you? Marcus.
• 35:15
  Oh, no. Marcus.
• 35:17
  Oh, Marcus. Missing Marcus.
• 35:18
  Yeah. Is it really?
• 35:19
  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, but everyone's got
• 35:21
  the little air of expertise, aren't they?
• 35:23
  Yes, they have, yeah. Yeah.
• 35:25
  Yeah, and they're quite funny because Nigel Maurice got the
• 35:27
  pen. Yeah.
• 35:28
  She's in charge of. Paper.
• 35:30
  Well, she would be knowing more. Yeah, she's in charge, Yeah.
• 35:33
  And then if there's a gap, Nigel's Nigel will not hand the
• 35:37
  paper in with a gap you. Must have something in you.
• 35:39
  Put anything. Even if it's rubbish.
• 35:40
  Yeah, And, and Morag will say, well, that's not right.
• 35:43
  I don't get put something in. You can't believe that.
• 35:45
  Put something in. You never know.
• 35:46
  You never know. It's so funny, isn't it?
• 35:47
  Yeah, it's funny. It does make me Chuck.
• 35:48
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a good night out, isn't it?
• 35:51
  They do spark off between each other very.
• 35:53
  Well, hilarious. Hilarious, yeah.
• 35:55
  So, final question, now you're living together, who's the most
• 35:59
  untidy? Oh, it'd have to be me, really.
• 36:03
  I don't think I am untidy particularly, but you are very
• 36:05
  tidy. Yeah, that's the army, isn't it?
• 36:08
  The police. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 36:09
  You're very if it's got a place, you're very order and I know it
• 36:12
  does the ironing because the creases have got to be just so I
• 36:14
  am quite. Fastidious is that is that why
• 36:17
  you have a nicely ironed and nicely creased swimsuit in the?
• 36:21
  Morning. I have everything.
• 36:22
  Everything is just so, isn't it? Occasionally I dare to pick AT
• 36:27
  shirt out of the unironed pile. She's that's not me night and
• 36:30
  you can't wear that. Yeah.
• 36:31
  You did that yesterday. Yeah.
• 36:33
  You hid it under a under a sweatshirt.
• 36:34
  And I have 9 now. He took a sweatshirt off.
• 36:37
  I said you have 9. I didn't.
• 36:40
  I didn't. The basket.
• 36:41
  And I thought I could fold a shirt, but when I Claire watched
• 36:43
  me fold it, I felt terrible because it was completely
• 36:45
  inferior. Gods.
• 36:48
  But I think the army trainee must teach to teach you that.
• 36:51
  I think we're both. Quite tidy, Yeah, I don't think
• 36:53
  I'm. On Meg's not Meg's, not tidy.
• 36:54
  No. Well, no.
• 36:55
  She drops her toys everywhere you.
• 36:57
  Know. Well, that's fine, that's fine,
• 36:58
  but who's going to tell her? She's the untidy 1.
• 37:00
  Yeah. OK.
• 37:01
  So we have a bit of a tradition before we end our podcast and
• 37:05
  that is that I ask you a question that our previous guest
• 37:09
  has left for you. So, and our previous guest, one
• 37:12
  of our previous guests, I won't tell you who it was, but I'm
• 37:16
  going to ask you your question when we get off air because I
• 37:19
  like to sort of surprise people. So.
• 37:22
  So your question is, if you could dunk anywhere other than
• 37:25
  Abbasot, where would it be and why?
• 37:28
  Anywhere at all? You go first.
• 37:33
  I got to think about this one. Oh.
• 37:34
  I have as well do. You know what, I think I'd go
• 37:38
  back to Ireland and have a Duncan Loch Nay, because when I
• 37:42
  was in service there we were never allowed to go there and it
• 37:45
  always looked beautiful. I think I'd go back.
• 37:48
  There OK, Loch Nay and yeah. Yeah, it's beautiful.
• 37:51
  Absolutely beautiful. Is it just well.
• 37:55
  Ireland, it's beautiful anyway, per SE.
• 37:57
  Island's Absolutely Fabulous, but I always thought that was a
• 38:00
  lovely place. We were never allowed to go
• 38:01
  there, so I'd I'd like to go back.
• 38:03
  There, Andrew. Difficult to think of a
• 38:06
  location, but I think as I said earlier, the up in the mountains
• 38:09
  during one of those dunkers strolling, the strolling dunkers
• 38:12
  walks just to go somewhere different, to go up in the lake
• 38:15
  or stream in the mountains. I think I'd love to do that.
• 38:18
  I can't think of another location.
• 38:20
  We could always go to Scotland to refine Nessie.
• 38:23
  Let's be cold there then. It was 8-8 degrees this weekend
• 38:27
  instead. An adventure, wouldn't it?
• 38:29
  Yeah. See always 2 for Not One for
• 38:32
  Adventure, 2 for Adventure. Thank you both very much indeed
• 38:35
  for joining us on the Dunkers Podcast.
• 38:37
  Thank you, thank you, and may the spirit of the Dunkers go
• 38:40
  with you. Thanks very much.