April
On the eastern extreme of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, at the end of the Finchbottom Expressway, is the deepwater seaport of Pipershaven, on the edge of Pepperstock Bay.
It was first established as a
garrison town by the Romans during the reign of Vespasian in 70 A.D. as Piperis
Stirpe Praesidio.
In the 21st century none of
its Roman origins are any longer in evidence as the town had expanded far
beyond the ancient confines and the busy docks would have been the envy of the
Roman world.
However apart from being a
remarkably busy commercial port with a substantial dockside, it was also home
to the cross-channel ferry port, the RNLI Lifeboat Station, a substantial
fishing fleet and small ferry service covering the two miles to the bay
islands, Beaumont, and St Giles, running a daily schedule, weather permitting.
The Shaw Brothers Ferry
Company operates the service between Pipershaven and the islands, which was
ironic in a way, as the business was jointly owned by sisters Olivia and Tanya.
They owned the two ferries, the Empress Victoria, and the Queen Eleanor, Olivia
skippered the Victoria and Tanya the Eleanor.
Both
vessels sailed twice daily services, stopping at both islands.
The service runs six days a week, with a reduced
service on Sunday’s and Bank Holidays with no service on Christmas Day, Boxing
Day, and Easter Sunday.
Not that Olivia and Tanya were at the helm for every
trip as they employed two other captains and worked three days on, three off
rotas.
The first sailing of the day left the mainland at 8 am
and then at three-hour intervals following until 5 pm, and on a grey damp
Wednesday morning it was 36-year-old Olivia Shaw in command of the Empress
Victoria as it left Pipershaven harbour heading out to sea.
The sea was
rougher than Liv expected, and the head wind freshened, so they were twenty
minutes late arriving at St Giles.
The rest of
the journey was without hinderance and on the run back to port, after rounding
Beaumont Head meant that she had made up all bar five minutes of the time she
had lost earlier.
However, by two o’clock in the afternoon when the
Empress Victoria left port for the second time that day the weather had
deteriorated further and by the time they were negotiating the entrance to St
Pierre Harbour, on the east coast of Beaumont Island, the leading edge of a
storm that wasn’t due to hit the area until later that evening had already
arrived.
It was not a popular posting for most of the soldiers
because of the remoteness and the quiet, the remainder liked it for the same
reasons.
Following the formal end of the Roman occupation of
Britain at the beginning of the 5th Century AD, the islands were largely
unoccupied until the arrival of the Norman’s after their victory over King
Harold at Hastings, when a close friend of William of Normandy, a minor
nobleman, Gilbert du Beaumont, claimed the islands for himself, and took up
residence on the larger Island which he promptly named after himself.
The other island he named St Giles du Cabot in honour
of his cousin and childhood friend who died of his wounds after the battle.
When Gilbert and his entourage first set foot on the
island only the wooden piles remained from the old Roman Quayside, so the first
task was to build a new one of stone along with breakwaters, sea walls and
tetrapods, until the port of St Pierre-Eglise was born, so named as it was the
birthplace of his wife Eleanor.
Work began in earnest on the town once the port was
fully functional, including a Manor House and a Norman Church, unfortunately
neither Gilbert nor his wife lived long enough to see St Pierre completed, but
they were both buried on the island.
The burden of completing the work his parents had
begun fell to their second son William, as his elder brother Robert had gone to
fight in the first crusade and never returned.
Robert was not the first Beaumont son to fall in
battle and he wouldn’t be the last, but the family stewardship protected
the land for over 900 years before war
finally ended the family’s tenure when three successive heirs were killed in
action during the Great War and the accumulated death duties forced George, the
only surviving Beamont, to sell off the estate in 1920, auctioning off the
buildings, the port and parcels of land.
Fortunately, the sale managed to raise enough to pay
off the taxman, while being able to keep Woodside Farm for himself and retain a
Beaumont family presence on the island.
On a stormy April Wednesday
Joshua had driven up to St Pierre with his brother Ben in the horsebox to catch
the early ferry, Ben was booked on the Empress Victoria as he was travelling to
the mainland to pick up their horse Trojan from the Williamson White Veterinary
Hospital in Purplemere, following an operation, then he would return on the
last ferry of the day.
Joshua meanwhile had a
meeting with their accountants and was staying in town all day and would meet
up with Ben again off the last ferry of the day.
After overseeing the
unloading of the passengers and vehicles Liv went to the Shaw Brothers Ferry
Company office on the quayside, to check about the return journey and
unfortunately was told that Harbour Master Paul Holland, had closed the port so
no vessels could sail until after the storm had passed, which was likely to be
first thing the following day.
It wasn’t the first time she
had to take refuge from a storm, in fact it was a frequent occurrence
considering the British weather but normally they found themselves stranded in
her home port.
Liv returned to the ship to
inform the crew and move the ship to its moorings and secure it for the night
while employee Lisa Stokes made the arrangements for the crew accommodations
and meal allowances for the night.
Joshua Beaumont had a very
productive meeting at Walton and Thompsett Accountants including a very decent
lunch.
He then had a couple of hours
to kill before heading to the ferry terminal, so he did a little shopping and
had a couple of overpriced coffees.
Finally, the time came for
him to go and meet the ferry so due to the inclement weather he got in a taxi.
“I’m sorry Mr Beaumont but
there will be no more sailings today” Lisa Stokes said just as Olivia Shaw
returned to the office.
“Don't worry Lisa” he
replied, “I know it's not your fault, thanks anyway.”
“Is that Joshua Beaumont?”
she asked, and he turned towards the source of the voice, to see a soaking wet
figure in a yellow waterproof coat and hat dripping all over the carpet.
“Yes, that's me” he replied,
though not sure who he was replying to,
“Do I know you?” he added,
and she turned her back on him and took off her coat and shook it before
hanging it on a peg, then repeated the process with her hat.
“Do you recognise me now?”
She asked as she turned around to face him.
“Olivia Shaw!” He exclaimed “As
I live and breathe.”
“It’s good to see you” she
said after they embraced.
“I haven’t seen you since
David’s wedding.”
David was Olivia’s younger
brother who was at university with Joshua and Ben, and they had remained
friends, he was now out in Boston working for a law firm, he didn't want
anything to do with the family’s maritime business, he always knew he would
follow a different path.
“I know it’s been a while
hasn’t it” he confessed then asked.
“What are you doing here, do
you work for the company now?”
“She’s the boss” Lisa pointed
out.
“Really?” he retorted.
“Yes, for two years now” Liv
replied.
“So, what got you out of your
cozy office on a day like this?” Joshua asked and Lisa laughed.
“Well, you could say I
brought my office with me” Olivia replied, and Lisa laughed again, and in
response to the puzzled expression on Joshua’s face she added proudly.
“For the last 12 months I’ve
been skipper of the Empress Victoria”.
“Wow a real salty seadog” he
retorted and chuckled.
“I like that” she said and
laughed before adding.
“So, what about you? I assume
you’re not just here to harass my wonderful employee”.
“Heaven forfends” he retorted
“No I’m supposed to be meeting my brother off the last ferry.”
“Well, I’m sure Ben will be
safe in Pipershaven until the morning” Liv said.
“I’m more worried about the
Horse” Joshua retorted, and she raised an eyebrow.
“What horse?” she began then
raised a hand and added.
“No don’t tell me, …. tell me
later over dinner.”
“Great idea” he said, “Where
did you have in mind?”
“I’m
staying at The Beaumont Manor tonight, so how about there?” she suggested.
“Ok sounds good to me, what time?”
“8 o’clock”
“It’s a date” he said then blushed.
“Well, you know what I mean, see you later” he added
and quickly went out the door.
“That blush was very telling” Lisa said as Olivia
watched Joshua hurry away into the dark.
“Yes, wasn’t it” she agreed “I think I need to ask you
a favour.”
Joshua was elated when he
first left the Shaw Brothers office with a dinner date because there was
unfinished business between them following a midnight kiss on New Years Eve ten
years earlier, when they stood locked in their first passionate embrace, their
first ever kiss, as fireworks lit up the night sky.
A kiss which hinted at being
the beginning of something, but because of a series of unconnected events it
never happened.
Firstly, Olivia broke her leg
skiing in Vermont and before she returned to Downshire his father had a heart
attack and died which knocked him for six, then he lost his mum when in her
despair she took her own life, which kicked him while he was down, so by the
time he got he finally got his head straight, Olivia was seeing someone else.
Joshua always thought of her
as the one that got away, maybe now he had a second chance.
However, his earlier elation
evaporated when it dawned on him that he was stranded in St Pierre without a
car, and because of the weather was unable to get a cab.
Fortunately, after a couple
of phone calls he managed to persuade a mate to drive him back to Woodside
farm.
Because of the possibility of
getting stranded on the islands, even though it wasn’t a regular occurrence,
Olivia always had an overnight bag aboard, but the bag only contained a clean
uniform shirt, underwear, socks, casual shoes, and toiletries.
What it didn’t contain was
girl clothes suitable to impress a man, which is why she needed to ask Lisa
Stokes for a favour.
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