Heartbeat

It was a Saturday.

Weekends had become special, and Saturday was my day for a bit of rest.  

My job took me away from home, and the weekends were spent at home; Saturdays for relaxing, Sundays for getting ready for Mondays.  I suppose other people do the same, but for me, after 9 months of being 'away by week' it was all still a bit of a novelty.

The job was for a government department, then known as 'MAFF' (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) or more specifically the SVS (State Veterinary Service).  I was based near Truro in Cornwall, and my job involved surveying for, and trapping badgers.  The work was all very controversial, and often confrontational, but I enjoyed it and worked with a group of very talented people, most of whom I was growing very fond of.

Anyway, my wife and I were watching television, and on one of the 'nostalgia' channels an episode of the popular series 'Heartbeat' was being shown.

The episode in question centred around the heartbreak of a farm that was infected with Foot and Mouth during the 1967 outbreak; it was all done very well, and by the end of the programme I knew that my wife would be in tears, and to be honest, I was close too it myself.

To see someone loose their lifetimes work in this way was very moving, and the programme did a very good job of portraying the anguish of the farmer, and those around him.

"It wouldn't happen like that now, would it?", my wife asked.

"No." I said confidently.

How little I knew.

Within weeks, the disease was found, and I was right in the middle of it all.