So Mrs. Hall and I were pootling along the Worth Way, a disused railway thing which escapes between two neighbourhoods of Crawley, looking forward to getting to Thee Pubbe this afternoon.
The path ahead appeared blocked by a mixture of bicycles and people, so we slowed down. Five people,three bikes,two dogs were present. The smaller canine was in the drainage ditch to the side of the track with her head between the bars of a drainage grate, which stuck up vertically from the ditch. Apparently the two dogs had been running along the track, in and out of the ditch, when Whack!, the smaller one went headlong into the grate. Her head went between the bars and now they couldn't get it out. I suspect a combination of head shape and swelling stopped extrication.
A bit of human head scratching and we decided to call the fire brigade. I lent my phone to the dog owner, who not being a local had to pass it on to one of the others present to describe where to the operator we were.
And then the son or son in law of the dog owners hove into view with a spade and a car jack. A bit of smart jack work and, with one bound, the dog was free. Everyone thanked everyone else. I phoned 999 again to call off the fire brigade.
And then we went to Thee Pubbe.
