David was a lovely man. I first met him when I moved to Barcombe in 2002 and moved in with my boyfriend (now husband!) who lived in the village and told me David had been his vet and had been wonderful in treating his cats.

Over the years we met frequently...mostly when out walking our respective dogs. Dylan was one of the very few dogs that our spaniel, Maddie, was keen to see and she would rush up with her tail wagging! We always stopped for a chat and I always wished I had bumped into him earlier when I had seen a particular bird and had no idea what it was..!

David came to our engagement party, which we held in our garden in the summer of 2011. I remember him sitting in the sun chatting to everyone and wearing a pale cream coloured suit. He was extremely gracious when, later on, I spilt red wine down the back of his jacket..! He gave us a set of placemats and serviettes, which we still use today.

We enjoyed a number of his slide shows about his incredible travels, held in the (old) village hall and were always delighted when, on occasion, he was able to join our team in the pub quiz as his usual team mates (I think they were called The Birders?) were not around, as we always did MUCH BETTER at the answers!!

David loved his dogs and took Dylan on long walks across the fields and paths around Barcombe. Our spaniel, Maddie, was not quite as enthusiastic as Dylan about such long walks and, if she was being naughty, we used to threaten her that if she didn't behave we were going to send her out on a few good long walks with Mr Lang!!

Sadly, we lost our beloved Maddie in May 2019. I wrote to David at the end of last year to tell him that we had finally secured a new cocker spaniel puppy and I was going to bring her to meet him. Yesterday we picked her up from the breeder. He would have loved her..

You will be very much missed David, but absolutely not forgotten. You touched so many lives and made them better.

I hope you will now be reunited with your beloved dogs and able to once again, go for stonking long walks with them running by your side.

Love

Simone & Steve French