Page 78 - Eclipse - Autumn/Winter 2022
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of the first-opinion mixed practice that   There were those who did not see   Ted was a countryman and a stockman at
        the RVC ran in Streatley, Berkshire.   this as “proper” work for a veterinary   heart, with a very sharp eye for detail and
        The College had been evacuated here   surgeon, which led to friction, and in   a quick mind, both of which he thankfully
        during the war and the final year of the   1969 the old RVC Streatley mixed   retained until the end. He will be much
        undergraduate course was still held   practice split into two, with Ted buying   missed by everyone, but especially by
        here. When the RVC moved to the     the large animal side and Joe retaining   Dot, their three children, Tim, Penny and
        new Hawkshead Campus in 1958,       the small animal. Resistance was not   Richard, and their grandchildren.
        it sold the goodwill of the Streatley   only from some within the profession but   The funeral was held on 16 September
        practice to two members of their staff,   also from some farmers, who expressed   and was attended by many old clients
        Joe Holmes and Bill Faull, and they   surprise that they were expected to   from the farming community, as well as
        employed Ted as their assistant. He   pay for this advice. But in his direct   numerous friends and neighbours from
        later became a partner with Joe Holmes   fashion, Ted pointed out that he had   the village of Cholsey, where they had
        when Bill Faull returned to academia in   to earn a living and that the advice he   lived for over 50 years.
        Liverpool in 1963.                  gave would actually save them money,
                                            if only they heeded it.

                                            Each routine visit would be
                                            followed by a short report, which
                                            could sometimes be quite caustic,
                                            but always expressed his honest
                                            opinion. Ted also insisted that these
                                            reports must be seen by everyone who
                                            worked on the farm, not just the owner
                                            or their manager. He was never a yes-
                                            man and clients appreciated his blunt
                                            approach. When the Pig Improvement
                                            Company asked him to become their
                                            regional veterinary adviser in the
                                            mid-1970s, Ted effectively became
                                            a full-time pig vet working out of his
                                            farm animal practice, now re-named
                                            Larkmead Veterinary Group, and he
                                            became a national figure in the pig
                                            industry. It was therefore to everyone’s
                                            surprise when he announced his
                                            retirement from the practice in 1991
        One of the practice clients at that   at the age of only 58. Of course,
        time was Richard Roadnight, who had   we shouldn’t have been surprised.
        developed a system of keeping pigs   It would have been a surprise not
        outdoors as part of an arable rotation.   to be surprised by Ted.
        Although Ted had always intended to
        be a cattle vet, he became an early   Ted and Dot had married in 1957
        advocate of the Roadnight system and   and were devoted to each other.
        very rapidly built a reputation among the   With their three children now off their
        increasing numbers of farmers who had   hands, they set about enjoying their
        adopted this method locally.        retirement together to the maximum.
                                            They both had enquiring minds, and
        Always an innovator, Ted became
        one of the early pioneers of “herd”   soon developed multiple interests well
        medicine, where the vet was no longer   away from the veterinary world. These
        just attending “fire-brigade” cases, but   included choral music, travel, gardening,
        was advising on preventative medicine,   history and collecting blue china and
        usually encompassing several other   candle snuffers.
        disciplines, such as nutrition,     For someone who considered
        husbandry, environment, bio-security   rambling to be pointless, Ted became
        and economics. Some vets at that time   a convert and for many years he and
        were dubious of this holistic approach   Dot could be seen striding out together
        which required regular farm visits to   across the fields at the back of the
        advise on what was then considered   surgery. They even took up cross-
        to be management matters rather     country skiing in their 60s.
        than veterinary.


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