end of an era

Popped over to Alex Massie at The Debatable Land and caught this obituary to Phil Drabble. Phil was to televised sheep-dog trials as Phil Ligget is to the Tour de France -- his was the voice that captured the ballet of One Man and His Dog.

I wanted to mention this to everyone because I was one of those 8million Britons watching the show with regularity. Now maybe this is a reflection on how exciting life was for teenagers in Thatcher's Britain, but I remember having serious conversations about the show the day after with other boys at school. None of us were farmers, but there was something magic in both the ways the dogs worked the sheep, and Phil narrated it to all of us.

I hope there's a lot of good sheepdogs waiting for you upstairs, Phil.