Way, way, back in the period 1964/ 1965 and 1966 I used to spend most of my weekends off from the Police cadet camp at Sedgefield, with Jim and Lillian at their home in Darlington. There were times when their son Michael, who was also a police Cadet, thought that his parents was treating me too well - it was a bit of a joke, me with red hair, fitted in perfectly with the rest of the family - who were all red headed and Lil would often joke to her neighbour, mrs alcock, that i was the long lost son she had abandoned years before.
Jim worked for years as Manager in the massive NAAFI warehouse in Whessoe ( I think) Darlington, and when i was there for the weekend I would go with him on a Sunday morning and get a shot on the fork lift trucks.
On my return to Scotland in 1966 I remained in regular contact with Jim and Lil who visited my parents up here and we all remained friends. It was not unusual for me to arrive at their door at odds hours without warning, when heading up and down the A1 to and from the Prince's Trust Camps I helped with at Caister.
For poor Jim, whose health deteriorated seriously in the relative short past, it was probably a blessing in disguise that he passed a way peacefully in his sleep to be reunited with his beloved Lillian.
Our thoughts are with the family at this time, and it looks very unlikely that I will manage it south for the funeral on Tuesday.
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