We enjoy sitting for regular clients as we pick up where we left off, into a routine straight away and the animals know us. It is also great for us to take on new sits where we have a chance to explore a new area and its hidden treasures.
We have recently looked after a couple of sweet dogs on the outskirts of Bristol, and whilst on our walk we noticed a number of references to whales. We thought this odd as we were on the banks of the Severn surrounded by fields of cows and sheep and didn't really see whales featuring much in this area.
We passed a road called Whale Warf, we saw a small sculpture with a breaching whale on it, and also a iron sculpture in the village of Littleton on Severn of a breaching whale. Our curiosity was peaked so we did a little digging on the web.
Surprise, surprise we came across an article from 1885 telling of the occasion when a whale beached itself at Littleton and caused a huge amount of excitement. Apparently people came from far and wide to see the spectacle. We were interested to read that the whale was hauled with chains not back out to sea, as would be the case today, but pulled up onto the shore to be harvested.
As we are travelling around so frequently, we see places, even our home town, with fresh eyes, taking in the architecture and local history on each visit. We do see so much more whilst walking rather than driving past places, and are lucky to have the time to soak in the atmosphere of a place on a daily basis.
We love our job.
A link to the full newspaper article can be seen below