Patrick Massey

I still remember him with pleasure in his role as a raconteur. On one occasion in the Hoop and Grapes he described an incident that mingled terror with farce which he witnessed as a lad during the blitz. One of his neighbours, an elderly lady, was on her way home when suddenly a German plane started strafing the street. Pat said the old dear could have taken shelter anywhere but instead broke into a sprint as she was obviously determined to reach her home a few yards away dead or alive. As the bullets got nearer Pat described how the lady foiled the Grim Reaper by doing a southern roll over her privet hedge.

I also learned from him that if anyone asked the Rev Ian Paisley a question regarded as being provocative the answer was "Let me smell your breath".

One story Pat and I covered together was Britain's first heart transplant in 1968 (the patient was called Fred West, would you believe?). We left a nearby pub packed with hacks waiting for the official announcement and made our way into the National Heart Hospital in Marylebone by way of the boiler room as all other points of access were closed. We managed to find a lift and went up to the second floor. There we met a tea lady pushing her trolley. "Excuse me," I asked. "Is this where the heart transplant has been done?" "No," she replied naming another floor. "It's great news, isn't it?" I pursued. "Oh, yes," she replied. "I believe they are going to make an announcement to the press soon." Pat and I rushed back to the pub (no mobile phones or laptops then) and he very decently allowed me to use the phone first. I then passed the phone over to Pat and as he spoke the hacks suddenly twigged what was going on. There was a stampede to the hospital who were not pleased to learn about our infiltration. ■