Danger, hero

River Ribble at Church Deeps

I suppose we all have some place that has an air of mystery and darkness about it. Mine is a real place, somewhere along the River Ribble in Preston, Lancashire, at a place called (in the vernacular), ‘t’ Church Deeps’. It is a place where the river cuts in under the bank causing dangerous currents to flow and forming a place where unwary swimmers could become trapped.

The day I heard about this place was a pleasant enough day. I wasn’t swimming but a few hard souls were splashing about in the far from pleasantly warm water. It was then that I overheard someone talking about t’ Church Deeps. I have a certain inbuilt distrust of water, no matter how charming and inviting it might seem, and when I looked across to where t’ Church Deeps was, it looked very dark and sinister. A place I would never go near.

It was further said in my hearing that there was one particular chap (who happened to rear whippets) who had rescued a few people who had got into difficulties over at t’ Church Deeps. Also, that he had even brought one person out, several days after he had drowned there. Apparently the poor soul had been wedged in between some tree roots, and had not been able to free himself.

I went home and talked about it with my family. Nobody seemed particularly interested in my bit of news I seem to recall, but Dad felt it opportune to add his warning about the dangers of river swimming. He needn’t have worried as water and its environs has to reach a very high standard indeed before I’ll venture in.

Some years after this event I read in the paper of a fellow who had rescued a person in danger at t’ Church Deeps. I can even remember a photograph of him; there he was with a whippet at his heels. He was a very ordinary chap, but then again real heroes often are, aren’t they?

Dennis Crompton © 1998