With Hugo on top of the Wrekin in Shropshire.

A day of high emotion as I had travelled to Shropshire for the funeral of Joseph Edward (Ted) Jones, a man I'd rarely seen in the last 40 years but was a very influential figure in my life as a boy, teenager and young adult in the late 60s and early 70s when I was involved with Wellington Cricket Club as a scorer and player.

I travelled with Ted and others across the county to matches, either as a player or to score for the team. His influence and impact were lasting. He was a Korean Veteran, severely wounded in the war, playing cricket with shrapnel in his body, a pronounced limp and only one lung but he lived on into his 80s.

Hundreds of people came to pay their respects at the Crematorium. Korean Veterans formed a Guard of Honour as his coffin entered for the service. The Hadley Orpheus Male Voice Choir sang a lovely hymn and a bugler played the Last Post followed by Reveille.

His wake was held at the Cricket Club, of course. A place I'd spent many of my formative years, a place adjacent to our family home for over 50 years. An emotional day became more intense as my brother and I caught up with people from over 40 years ago and do you know, it seemed as if we'd never left the place.

And why the blip of Hugo and me at the top of the Wrekin? Well, I was staying with my cousin who was looking after Hugo for her son while he was in France on holiday with his family. Hugo is 2, full of energy, eager to please and good natured but very demanding to Christine who is slight and in her 70s. So I volunteered to take Hugo to the top of the Wrekin and back in the morning, a 5.5 mile walk.

It didn't take much out of Hugo though as later on Christine's next door neighbours took him out again for an hour up on the Ercall. And it was as if he hadn't been out all day.