Two weeks ago, I wrote about Dot Beeson, the lovely lady who runs the Swan Sanctuary in Felix Lane, Shepperton and told the story of how she first became involved with helping injured birds and other wildlife.
So what do you do after you take early retirement at the age of 54 following a career as a computer systems engineer working for British Airways? That was the question facing Derek Beake from Richmond Drive, Shepperton in 1997…
A couple of months back I wrote a piece in this column exalting in the fact that Environment Agency inspectors had nabbed a significant number of boats on our stretch of the Thames which weren’t displaying the proper registration licence sticker and urging all boat owners to do the right thing and apply for the river equivalent of a tax disc.
