Pip the Golden Retriever

Aww - thank you, Yvonne. It’s almost 18 months since he left us, but it feels like only yesterday. Have a lovely weekend. 😃

Pip the Golden Retriever is walking towards you with a smile on his face and his tongue hanging out. He is on a grey metalled path with grass verges on either side. In the distance, there’s a large out crop of grey sandstone rocks with a line of oaks and other mature trees behind. There are park benches to pips left and right, and a person is sitting enjoying the morning on a bench to the left of the picture.

A view across the cricket pitch on beautiful Royal Tunbridge Wells Common. The Tunbridge Wells and Rusthall commons in the UK are currently up for sale.

A campaign encouraging locals to pledge sums towards the cost of buying the commons - to protect them from future development - is underway.

What a lovely picture!

Nala sitting on the path with the sun behind her

Nala and I are great 😀👍

We thought that summed up the huge smile on his face. Hope your Sunday is going well, Beags.

We miss him every day. He’s still in our hearts and thoughts. Hope all is good with you Grostaquin. 😃

Lovely to meet another pup named, I suspect, after a character from literature. Pip was the narrator in the Charles Dickens book Great Expectations, played in the great film by John Mills.

Pip the Golden Retriever is lying on a grassy area facing right to left. He has his head up and it’s turned towards you. He has a big retriever smile on his face. There are yellow daffodils to the left of him and white ones to the right. Behind him, there are trees and undergrowth, and the land rises to the top of a hill with a large building at the summit. This is Mount Edgcumbe in Royal Tunbridge Wells .

Happy #StDavidsDay to all our Welsh pals!

Pic: Mt Edgcumbe, Tunbridge Wells 2021
#DogsOfBluesky 📸

Hi Literate Lawyer! We haven’t been around so often recently, but will post occasional memories from now on. Today, Pip has been in the forefront of his family’s thoughts. 🐾

A little bonus for those who care to look!

We’ve not posted in a while, but will occasionally post memories of our gentle old fella in future weeks. Lovely to hear from you! 🐶

Hi Sam! Our dear old boy loved visiting the railway. The team there made such a fuss of him!

Your fur is such a lovely colour, Sam!

It’s the heritage Swanage Railway on the Isle of Purbeck. With thatched cottages, the castle and beautiful country walks, it’s like stepping back in time. Our gentle Pip visited many times and the railway folk always made him very welcome!

Pip, the golden retriever is sitting in the centre of the photograph facing towards you. It’s a bright sunny day and his fur is shining; it’s dark gold on his back shoulders and the sides of his head, but lighter on his legs, chest and face. He is sitting on the platform of a railway station, with a golden–yellow coloured wooden picket fence at the end of the platform behind him. On the opposite side of the rail line in the distance is a hill with a beautiful semi-ruined Medieval castle at the top. The walls appear light grey in the sunlight and are likely to have been built using Purbeck stone. This is Corfe Castle, which was built after the 1066 Norman conquest of England and deliberately destroyed after the English Civil War. The rail line is the Heritage Swanage Railway, which runs a steam hauled service between nearby Norden and the Seaside town of Swanage. Pip has a smile on his face with his tongue hanging out and a friendly expression on his face.

Another photograph of Pip sitting in the same position on the platform at Corfe Castle station on the Heritage Swanage Railway. He is facing towards you and once again has a happy smile on his face a train is pulling into the opposite platform. This is being hold by a large Bullied pacific locomotive 4-6-2 steam locomotive. This is painted in the dark green southern livery of British Railways with a black front to the boiler and a red buffer beam. It is holding a rake of coaches in the same livery. The sky in this picture is more cloudy than in the first picture.

Part of our national heritage: the Golden Retriever! #NationalGoldenRetrieverDay

Oh, and historic #CorfeCastle pictured from the heritage Swanage Railway, too!

A #TongueOutTuesday memory of Pip the Golden. Pics: 2019 and 2023.

All is well with us. We’ve had Pip’s Younger Human Sister’s young dog Percy staying with us while she’s on honeymoon. It’s been lovely having four paws in the house again. We’ll miss him when he goes home!

Pip the Golden Retriever is sitting facing towards you in the middle distance to the left of the picture with a happy, friendly smile on his face and his tongue hanging out. His Dad is crouched down next to him, with one knee on the ground. He is wearing light brown trousers and a blue coat and is waving in your direction. He appears to be waving and shouting a friendly greeting to you. Both are perched on a flat area of rock on an otherwise steep slope on the side of the valley, which falls away steeply to the right. There are the remains of two tree trunks emerging from the rock they are on, which have had their tops cut off and create a dramatic setting for the photograph. There are more trees in the background covered in green leaves, some growing from lower in the valley. Brackenbury clings to the steep side of the valley in the foreground.

Greetings from Happy Valley! Pip with his Dad four years ago today on one of our favourite walks.

#ThrowbackThursday (24 July 2021) ⏳

Hi Literate Lawyer! Thank you and have a great week. 🐾

Hi George! We hope you and your family are well! 😃

Thank you for your kind comments! We hope you are well. We’re gearing up for a summer wedding which the old fella would have loved.

Our gentle, loyal and loving Pip the Golden Retriever was born on this day in 2010.

Happy Heavenly 15th birthday old friend. 🐾

Greetings from Oor Pip to Oor Wullie! Love also to your lovely tour guides Oor Wallie and Oor Artie!

Give our love also to Wullie’s pals The Broons and all Scottish Goldens!

Hi Dave - that’s a lovely picture! We spent and hour of so with one of Pip’s Golden Retriever pals today, a lovely dog called Watson. He is well loved in our town - every passer-by seems to know him! He is very cool and laidback, so he reminds us of our dear old fella who left us last September.

📻🌤️🎙️

Pip’s Dad is playing a great music mix on West Kent Breakfast today between 7 and 10am (UK time, Friday 25 April).

You can also hear a round up of West Kent news, a local sport preview and news of upcoming events.

You’re welcome to listen:
westkentradio.co.uk/player/

📻😃🎙️

Dad is the breakfast DJ on West Kent Radio again tomorrow from 7 to 10am (UK time, Friday, 25 April).

Looks like he’s got lots of great records ready for the show, as well as local news, sport and events.

Feel free to listen from 7am, Friday:
www.westkentradio.co.uk/player/

Well, Pip the Golden Retriever was a handsome fella! Best we keep the resemblance our secret though, as this might go to Dad’s head! 😂😂😂

Pip’s Dad plays a great music mix on West Kent Radio’s breakfast show today - 7-10am (UK time, Friday 18 April).

He’ll also have a round up of West Kent news, up-coming events and a preview of the weekend’s local sport.

You’re welcome to listen:
westkentradio.co.uk/player/

🎶📻🎶

Dad is presenting the Breakfast Show on West Kent Radio today, 7-10am (UK time - Friday, 11 April).

He’ll play music from the ’60s to now, including two birthday artists and a ‘guilty pleasure’. There’s also local news and sport.

Listen here:
www.westkentradio.co.uk

An AI generated picture of a very life-like Pip the Golden Retriever toy in a plastic flat pack. He standing facing right to left, but with his head turned towards you. He is looking at you with his brown eyes and has a big smile on his face. His fur is deep golden on his back, head and ears, but lighter on his legs, chest and face. The pack also contains his multicoloured striped rainbow lead, a yellow collar, two brown food bowls filled with food, a blue water bowl and a tennis ball.

🌤️🐶📸

Pip was an agile dog, so let’s leap onto a trend!

#ThrowbackThursday ⏳

Pip the Golden Retriever is standing in a pond, with calm water in front of him and ripples lapping around his body. He is facing from left to right, with his face and head reflected in the water towards the right of the picture. His fur - deep golden on his back and a little lighter on his face - is soaking wet. His brown eyes are shining and he has a serious expression on his face. He is holding his tail out of the water behind him.

On Golden Pond. 🌤️

Pip loved water. Whether it was the sea, a lake, puddle or muddy ditch, he would be in there enjoying a swim or wallow. 🐶

#ThrowbackThursday (pic: spring 2011) ⏳