Carriage drivers present new link box

IF ANYTHING epitomises Sark in terms of what it means to those who visit, then I would suggest that it is the image of a horse-drawn carriage.

Forget the nonsense so frequently spouted about this small rock being best known for its feudalism – most people wouldn't be able to define that expression in a month of Sundays – because, when asked what makes Sark so pleasantly different, the immediate response in most cases is 'no cars', coupled with carriage drives.

Yet rarely is reference made to those whose skill, local knowledge and general good humour contribute so much to the positive image many of our 50,000 or so tourists a year take away with them – the carriage drivers.

On Christmas Eve, Sark residents were given an opportunity to thank the drivers when they handed over a new tractor link box to the island's medical officer, Dr Peter Counsell. The link box – state of the art, if such a thing is possible, but certainly custom-built – was paid for by the drivers who, earlier this year, decided to work in fancy dress in order to raise money.

The purpose was to replace the box which had been used by the last three island doctors at least and was, to all intents and purposes, in such a state of disrepair that it was probably more likely to injure a patient than help one.

For those not familiar with the vagaries of medical assistance in Sark, when the doctor is called out to a patient who subsequently needs further treatment at the medical centre, that patient is often transported while sitting in a garden chair in the link box – a somewhat precarious journey, given the state of some of the island's roads.

The new box not only has a built-in seat – complete with safety belt – but half of it is filled with all the medical kit the doctor is likely to need on a call-out, including a pair of crutches.

The fund-raising was a splendid effort – by the carriage drivers and those who donated – and yet another example of the practical side of generosity.

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More news of fund-raising – I just wonder how many tens of thousands of pounds have been raised for good causes in Sark this year – came with an email from Jan Guy, who told me that the carol singers raised £1,355.68 with their island perambulations, the money to be divided equally between the Royal British Legion and the International Red Cross.

Jan added: 'The organisers would like to thank all those who sang, those who listened and popped some money in the tins, those who sent donations, those who invited us in for mulled wine and festive "figgy pudding", and the patron saint of carol singers, who granted us good weather on every evening but one.'

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The day after tomorrow it will be 2012 – the year of the London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, which holds out the prospect respectively of a medal for Sark's dressage rider Carl Hester and a visit from the Prince of Wales.

If the New Year Fairy were to tap me on the shoulder and grant me three wishes, then the first would probably centre on the customary good health and prosperity.

As to the second and third, I am inclined towards wishing the writer(s) of the Sark Newsletter a severe, if painless, attack of writer's cramp and then hoping that Sark's Chief Pleas turns itself into a proper debating chamber and not an anti-Brecqhou rubber stamp.

In the meantime, a Happy New Year to all those who feature in and read this weekly column, wherever they may be.

The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net.