TUESDAY 10th JANUARY
It’s well circulated around the town now, the news that my old friend “Big Dave” Howson died very suddenly on Sunday. He was a larger than life character with a booming voice and a ready smile. He had a fund of jokes to suit any occasion and had an extremely caustic wit. He didn’t suffer fools gladly and made his feelings clearly evident. A very keen racing man and of course, he was a “bookie” for the hound-trails which he truly loved, travelling all around the County to follow his passion. He was an enthusiast of the “Friday Early Doors Club”, The “Cocktails @ 5 Club” on Sundays as well as the successful ”Cocktails @ 5 Racing Syndicate”. He was great fun to be out with and was able to take a bit of banter just as well as him giving it out. An enthusiastic drinker and a life-long fan of Preston North End Football Club ( just take a peek at their website www.pne-online.net/forum ) to see how “Shaky” was so highly regarded with over 600 notes of sympathy at his sad passing. He loved his exotic hoidays and had only recently returned from a visit to Kenya. ”Big Dave”, “Shaky”, “Howsie”, whichever name you recognise him under, has sadly passed away at a tragically early age of just 51. He is survived by his wife Jackie and daughter Becky. He will be sadly missed and Ulverston, P.N.E. and the Hound-Trails will never be the same without him.
R.I.P. “Big Dave” Howson.
Once I am aware of the funeral arrangements I will publish them on my blog.
Had another good day at work though the weather was rather grimy and driving over the fell to Kirkby it was very misty indeed. Had just a snack at tea-time and then picked up Peter and took off for Newby Bridge to a meeting. I have read of the approval of the new high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham ( travelling at 225 bringing the journey time down to an incredible 45 minutes !). Now that will be something fantastic. The plan is for that to be the first stretch but ultimately to reach Manchester then Scotland. How marvelous! It will take years to complete, and is very controversial as it cuts through open countryside and there have been many objections to the scheme.
