Jump to content
 

Please use M,M&M only for topics that do not fit within other forum areas. All topics posted here await admin team approval to ensure they don't belong elsewhere.

Dave "Tetleys" Shakespeare

great northern

Recommended Posts

faulcon1

faulcon1

Posted
Posted

Hi Dave, I first saw your railways (Tetleys Mills one and two) years ago in Model Rail and was devastated to hear that you'd suffered and awful blow. It's so great to read that your slowly making positive progress but try not to overdo it heh. Just remember your not as strong as you used to be and chemo can knock you around a bit.

Anyway will your latest railway be DC or DCC controlled?.

What a pity you got rid of the Wallace and Gromit wool by products, because it really was a cracking layout Dave. 

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
tetleys

tetleys

Posted
Posted

faulcon 1

 

Sorry for the delay but I don't visit the web as often as I should.

 

I am a DCC convert having 'come out' since being brain washed by Great Northern and his Peterborough North layout, Gilbert is a very good friend and a retired solicitor and they don't lead us astray do they? Gilbert's storage system is bi-directional and it makes perfect sense that what goes up should come down so stock shouldn't just circulate in one direction. I will follow Gilbert's lead and switch locos for up and down workings and it has a bonus of virtually doubling the number of trains available. Another friend and member of RMWeb gave me his redundant DCC trickery bits so I just need to solder ten miles of bus wires and I'm half way there.

 

As for the illness I am making solid progress thanks to Mrs S and a great team at Lincolnshire NHS I'm not yet counting chickens but my consultant assures me the chequered flag is within sight.

 

Dave Shakespeare

Link to post
Share on other sites
tetleys

tetleys

Posted
Posted

Another milestone passed in the fight to regain my health and fitness, I managed 41 miles on my bike this morning so the next target is 45 miles after my next stay in hospital.

 

I've now finished re-building my baseboards for the new abridged layout to replace the old Tetleys Mills so I can start some serious modelling anytime soon, I should lay the storage tracks but it is tempting to build a small cameo section where there are only up and down lines and fill in all the scenery.

 

Shattered of Ancaster

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 4 weeks later...
tetleys

tetleys

Posted
Posted

It is with great sadness that I have to tell you, at Dave's request, that he has been diagnosed with cancer, and that the prognosis is extremely bleak. It is almost ceratin that he has no more than months to live, and it could be less. This shattering news comes out of the blue really, as all of this has been diagnosed during the last month. There had been no forewarning at all.

 

I am proud to number Dave among my best friends, and honoured that he has asked me to help him with the sale of his railway related belongings. He wishes to deal with that disposal as soon as possible, in order to relieve his poor wife Julie of at least one burden in the coming months. I have spoken with Andy Y, and he has agreed that RM Web and he personally will also be involved in assisting Dave at this awful time.

 

I am sure there will be very few who will be reading this, and with shock and great sadness, who have not heard of Dave and his iconic Tetley's Mills layouts. Dave was just starting on his new layout, which I know would have eclipsed even what he has done before, and established him even more firmly among the modelling greats. That will now never happen, but although the old Tetley's Mills has been dismantled, most of the buidlings and infrastructure still exist. So, if you are looking for a Satanic mill, or a run down row of Yorkshire cottages, you will shortly have the opportunity of acquiring such things, and at the same time preserving the memory of a great modeller.

 

I now need to talk to Dave and to Andy as to how we shall deal with this. We will hopefully be able to give more details shortly. In the meantime, I am sure that your thoughts will be with Dave and Julie and their family at this terrible time.

 

Perhaps also it will help us to put our lives and our hobby into perspective. Why do we get so heated sometimes over matters that events like this reveal to be no more than the most trivial of things?

I am delighted to be able to report that my consultant today told me that but for the formality of another CT scan in six weeks he tells me that I have passed the chequered flag (albeit that nuisance Vettel got there first!)I now believe Julie and I with the help of our consultant Dr Sidra and the fantastic team at Lincolnshire Health Care Trust have taken on and beaten the illness. I still don't like to mention the word but you all know what my prognosis was back in January, Gilbert did not exaggerate. Julie and I would like to thank all of you for the words of support and advice offered and to confirm what others have touched upon, never accept the inevitable, fight, fight and take the pain, drugs and whatever else is on hand, never give in.

 

Very kindest regards,

 

Dave and Julie Shakespeare

Link to post
Share on other sites
Andy Y

Andy Y

Posted
Posted

Thanks Dave; Gilbert's just been on the phone and I'm delighted to hear your news. It's a truly astonishing tale and your collective determination has been a real eye-opener. You're one hell of a fighter Dave.

 

Now; I think you owe Julie a few treats (sorry, didn't mean to set the recovery back ;)).

 

All the best to you both.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • RMweb Premium
great northern

great northern

Posted
  • Author
  • RMweb Premium
Posted

I could not have believed when I started this thread back in January that I would ever read something like this. By March I knew that if anyone could beat it, it would be you, and even then I began to wonder if through sheer guts and determination you could pull through. As time has passed, and the prognosis has got better and better, I allowed myself to have real hope, but like you I didn't want to tempt fate and put it into words. Now I can, and it is a truly great day. You are a shining example to us all, and I hope that  the last paragraph of my original post will still stand as a reminder to us to keep our every day worries and gripes in perspective. And we shall even get to see that new layout now. It may have been scaled back somewhat, but I know it will still delight and enthrall all who see it. I am privileged to know you, and to be able to call you my friend.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Ian Fisher

Ian Fisher

Posted
Posted

Hi Dave,

 

Congratulations on your news, our household had a similar chat with our (my partner's) consultant oncologist in the last month after fifteen months post treatment.

 

As you say take what ever, oddly she used to love ginger biscuits wont go near them now! OD whilst on cheamo....

 

Take care in the coming months condition wise and just keep building your recovery.

 

 

 

Ian

 

take the pain, drugs and whatever else is on hand, never give in.Very kindest regards,Dave and Julie Shakespeare

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...