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Arthur Troop House Staff Turn Detective Jeremy Meppen-Walter , South Yorkshire Branch The staff at Fox Rd helped rekindle an international friendship. W hilst I was an Officer in the South Yorkshire Police many years ago, I had the pleasure of hosting a young Policeman during a visit to my force. His name was Christian and he was part of a class of held a social evening at Doncaster Police Club. Christian enjoyed his visit very much and we were sorry to see him leave. It was a very successful visit to South Yorkshire and everyone made lasting friendships.

recruits from Nordrhein Westphalia Police training school. The recruits, along with their supervisors, had travelled in their Police vehicles all the way from Germany to Sheffield. The convoy of German police vans must have been a shock to custom officers and indeed to motorists along our road network. After collecting Christian, I took him back to my house and introduced him to my family, who were looking forward to meeting him. We soon made friends and got on really well together during his visit. Over the following days I took Christian to Thorne Police Station, where he was well received. I was supported by my senior officers in taking time out from normal duties to look after Christian. My idea was to introduce him to the various aspects of Police work and show him around the South Yorkshire Police area. He was taken out on regular patrol dealing with incidents, as well as visiting Traffic, Dog Section, Mounted Section, Firearms Unit and the Control Room, where he answered calls from the public. Christian has a good standard of English and was able to understand well all our conversations and interactions. We managed to show him around York and the Yorkshire Coast, where he had his first taste of fish & chips at Bridlington. On our visitors’ final night, we

I kept in contact with Christian by letter, learning over the years that he had married and had a son. The years passed by and I retired from the Police and eventually moved house. Christian had moved house too and we lost contact with each other. Last Christmas, I sought help from the IPA to trace Christian. I sent an e-mail to their headquarters at Nottingham and was contacted by Michele Rai and Cathy Key, who took an interest in my request and passed the information onto the German Section. The wheels were set in motion and several German policemen replied to me, and eventually they traced Christian, who was given my contact details. Happily, Christian replied by e-mail and we have renewed our friendship and will catch up on all those lost years. In the true spirit of friendship and thanks to the efforts of the IPA members involved, they have helped me to make contact with my friend again. Surprisingly, Christian is not an IPA member but, nevertheless, efforts were made to find him. My sincere and grateful thanks are extended to everyone involved.

IPA Motor Cycle Group - Isle of Wight Weekend Jacqui Buxton , Nottinghamshire Branch Graham and I joined members of the Motorcycle SIG, most on bikes, for a long weekend on the Isle of Wight. Some used the ferry from Portsmouth, but Graham and I rode with Ron and Carolyn Barns, using the Lymington ferry. We all arrived at the Premier Inn in Sandown at various times, before meeting in the Merrie Garden restaurant for an evening meal. S aturday dawned with the opportunity to ride to the RNLI station for a visit, organised by IPA member Ian Hunt,

It is usual for Bike Section members to do their own thing, and Sunday saw several independent ride-outs to The Needles, Freshwater Bay, and St Catherine’s Lighthouse, as well as Osborne House, Queen Victoria’s former home. Our ferries back to Hampshire arrived on Monday morning. Goodbyes and promises to meet again at the AGM in Aberystwyth were exchanged before we wended our way home.

who lives on the island. We saw the lifeboat and heard first-hand from the Coxwain about their role. It was fascinating and awe-inspiring to climb aboard, and, even for a very short time, to be in their working environment, hearing what the crew members’ duties involved. After the RNLI visit we called at a very well stocked cafe near Godshill for lunch, before more rides and sightseeing.

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POLICE WORLD Vol 64 No.3, 2019