BASIL: CALDERMIST'S FIRST CHAPTER

The Basil Years: How it all Began ...

Our love of the bearded collie began long before we knew it. In 1980 whilst out on a walk busily discussing our wedding plans, my husband, George and I bumped into a man whose dog I simply could not get out my mind. A dog whose path we crossed for just a moment but who was to change our lives forever.

Once home, I immediately regretted not asking the man what breed this wonderful shaggy, mud-splattered dog was, and took off to our local library a few days later to try and identify the dog that still bounced about in my head. I had grown up with Yorkshire Terriers and knew very little about the working dogs that I have since come to love and admire.

After several hours of searching, I came across a volume of "Collie Dogs of Britain" and I will never forget the thrill of turning the page out of which jumped a very handsome version of the dog that refused to leave my thoughts - "Braid" or as the pages read, "Champion Osmart Bonnie Blue Braid, a bearded collie from the Osmart Kennels in Bacup, Lancashire." As I read on, I was astonished to discover that Braid's breeder Mrs. Jenny Osborne lived less than 15 miles away from the cottage we had just bought and in which we were to begin our married lives.

The very second we returned from our honeymoon, we contacted Jenny to enquire if we could have a puppy. We were disappointed that Jenny did not have a litter at that time, but she kindly put us in touch with Dorothy Lindsay in Scotland whose beardie girl had just been mated to one of Jenny's dogs- a Braid son "Peter Ben Bonnie at Osmart". We were delighted when a few weeks later we were sent a black and white photograph of the puppies, each of which had a number hand-written over their heads. We were to choose our puppy from the photograph, put the corresponding number of the puppy against our name and address and send on the photograph to the next address after ours on the accompanying list!

We still don't know how he got there, but we picked Basil up from Osmart a couple of weeks later in the middle of a torrential rain storm on a freezing cold December night. As anyone who has ever visited Osmart Kennels will know, the assent to the kennels on the top of the Rossendale Moors was quite an experience as we negotiated the steep climb on the unmade farm track in an ex-police issue mini in the pouring rain containing one husband nursing a newly broken leg in full plaster!

As Jenny made steaming hot coffee we snuggled our puppy - Basil. He was perfect and we were smitten.

We were privileged to share almost 16 happy years with this very special beardie and will hold the memories of the Basil Years in our hearts forever.

***