Having served in the Navy for sixteen years, at the ripe old age of 32 (ripe for a police recruit) I joined the West Suffolk Constabulary, and for the first two years served as a foot patrol officer in Bury St. Edmunds. At the end of this probation period I was told that I would be kept on in the Force and that I was to be transferred to a country beat, namely Thurlow. It was pointed out to me that the police house there was brand new, and had cost £2,000 to build and that I was to be the first occupant. My wife and I viewed the house and agreed that we should give it a go (not that I had much option). So in April 1954 we moved in. On my second day my Inspector came out from Haverhill and showed me round the "Thurlow Beat" in his car. This consisted of the two Bradleys and the two Thurlows, so the territory stretched from Sipsey Bridge to Wratting Hill, and from Hunts Park to Stradishall R.A.F. Gymnasium. His last words to me on that day were, "There you are, Auckland, it's all yours; keep it clean and I only want to hear from you if anything serious occurs". In those days country policemen worked discretionary duties, i.e. working 8 hours a day but split up to cover the needs of your beat. He forgot to tell me that I was available 24 hours a day, even on my one day off, to deal with any enquiries which came to my door; and if I was on patrol my wife would have to deal with callers, both personal and on the telephone.

So I started my life as a "Country Policeman". My first few weeks were spent mainly patrolling round on my bicycle and getting to know the area and of course "the locals". This I found very enjoyable, as the people were actually friendly, though as a town policeman I had found rather the opposite. I made a point of getting to know the local celebrities ­ the vicar, the midwife, the postmaster, the schoolmistress, the road sweeper, and of course the local doctors. All these, I found, were fountains of local knowledge which certainly helped me to get to know the remainder of the villagers. As time went by I discovered that I and my family were ourselves becoming part of the village life. My three children had made friends and these often came to our house. In fact I got to know most of the villagers and was known myself as the "policeman with the alsatian" ­ had it been a retriever or a spaniel I am sure it would have gone unnoticed.