Jeremy a dear old buddy of mine from the animal days, has just written his story (long overdue) currently he can be seen on Discovery or similar as the main Human in the Monkey World programs, we have known each other for over twenty years now and my respect for this extraordinary animal man still grows daily, he is unasuming, quiet and polite but boy is he knowledgible on the practicalities of group living in the Ape and monkey world.
All aboard for the skylark
I got a phone call about a month ago to ask if I could attend his launch and of course accepted without equivocation, it was a must and I would be there, I have known of the book for ages and in fact was one of the people who encouraged him to finally write it. No details were exchanged only to say that it would be relased and that the celebration for this launch would be on a boat in Poole! Typical Jeremy no more details than that, and added that Lou would be sorting all that out, which of course she did and beautifully too.
I rang him from Poole on the launch day at around the time that we were all supposed to meet (around a hundred people were invited) only to be told by him that I was at the wrong venue and that I should go further along the water front to the Admiral Nelson pub and that he would be there in ten minutes? We stopped to have a cup of coffee on the way, and like Merlin he appeared in front of us, just as the cofee was being served! In the above picture Jeremy is of course immediately reconisable from his book cover photograph ( Yeah right!)-(standing back left) his sons are to his left hand side kenyon Jamie and his grandson Jake who is hidden at this point John Lewis the vetenarian, and also a joint friend,(he and I once evicerated a dead elephant togeather :o(( ) is the guy on the left hand front side of the picture in a blue, body warmer and grey trousers, with dark hair.
So it was off out into the channel on route for "Old Harry" a clump of detached rocks just off the jurassic coast of poole/Swanage Dorset. Not before I spotted my next boat :o))
Sunseekers works on the wharf at Poole
The old Poole customs house
I have spent many a rocky and banging night alonside here in the past
Due to its position, Poole has two high and low tides to most of the rest of the UKs one (which is normal) so when moored alongside a very disruptive water surface can be experience as fishing boats move on and into the harbour further along under the bridge(Cobbs Quay I think it is).
First sights of Old harry as we pass the Training bank
On past Old Harry and onto Swanage bay
I have spent so many hours diving the ledges in this bay looking for Lobsters and crabs that I have lost count, but the tidal race off the headland has a wreck in it that some friends of mine purchased ( The Kiara )and we used to dive on her during the twenty minutes of slack water, as the tide turned. If you were late surfacing you would find that as soon as you stuck your head above the gunnel of the boat
(wreck) only to find that the (twin in those days) hoses of your demand valve were flattened to the sides of your head and you couldn`t actually breathe, so you just had to let go and rise as fast as you dare going with the current ( the wreck is in about 80 feet of water on a ledge somewhere in the centre of the race) usually breaking surface a couple of hundred yards into the now raging race! To be picked up by the "safety boat" was really something in its own right too, as most of the trip back to the dive boat was carried out in a three metre, old, deflating, so called, inflatable, supported bow and stern on two waves as you surfed along and eventually out of the race,
looking across at Swanage bay proper with jamie, Kenyon, with dreadlocks and Jake (Jeremys sons and grand son (Jamies bouy), with Dr alison Cronin (Jim`s widow, also a friend from way back) on the right in the white pants.
Past Old harry again on the way in
Back on in, to a spectacular sun-set to finish a lovely evening
How did I find the book?
Knowing the animals personally, human and otherwise I enjoyed it immensly, fans will too, I`m sure! Its writtem by a very human man, with all the frailties included("warts and all") and with no bull s*it. If any of it seems exagerated? more often than not it has actually been "played down" by an unasuming Jeremy, for the sake of the reading public. Yes! I enjoyed it very much, sure I got the odd mention, but only so I wouldn`t sue him! :o))
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