End of an Era – saying goodbye to the Beanz Clan…

Archie Beanz on his first Indigo Dream Cruise in 2011

I’m afraid that this is one of the saddest posts I’ve ever written – greyhounds are not immortal (more’s the pity) but the passing of Archie Beanz, last of the Beanzy Boyz, last week really rocked us. He was 12, which is a good age, but he’d been diagnosed with a malignant, though non-invasive cancer last year, which had been controlled by a couple of surgeries, from which he recovered well. However a fortnight ago, a huge tumourous mass swelled up on his neck and this time it was inoperable.

We were forced to say goodbye to Herbie in October, when old age finally got to his back legs just shy of his 15th birthday.

Henry Beanz took himself off to the rainbow bridge last May, just shy of his 12th birthday, we’re not sure why, but he had been living with kidney failure for a few years.

So this is a tribute to three fine hounds who cruised the length and breadth of the country with us. We’ll always be grateful to them for their company and for teaching Alex Puppy how to live well after a traumatic start in life.

Henry B Beanz cruising with us in May 2011. but he was already an experienced boating hound by then 🙂

Henry B Beanz (Eighty Six Gold) – May 2007 – May 2019

Herbie Beanz (Spare the Air) – October 2005 – September 2019

Archie Beanz (Rainham Midnight) – February 2008 – April 2020

I’m not sure I can find words that will do justice to this clan, so I’m going to link to their individual blog posts which will tell you everything you need to know. We have thousands of Beanzy photographs – I’ll let them do the talking as well.

Herbie joined the crew later in 2011 – this is him in my super-squashy armchair

I was thinking about the waterways that they cruised with us – the BCN several times – Henry and ARchie crewed on four BCN 24-hour Maarathon Challenges with us, coming third three times before finally winning in 2018. The BCNS had a photographer on the finish line in 2018 – he just couldn’t stop taking photos of Archie “He’s just so photogenic” gushed the man, entranced!

Then there’s the length and breadth of the Grand Union and the Thames; Herbie came to the Medway’ they all cruised the Leeds and Liverpool (and routes up there); took Liverpool by storm; they crossed the Mersey with us so that means they cruised the Manchester SHip Canal, River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey. Archie got to run on his own private sandbank when we crossed the Nene, so that means he was with us on Brandon Creek and the River Great Ouse. Of course, Archie got be on TV with James Martin, celebrity chef, who came to film a show on Indigo Dream in 2018.

Henry Beanz turned out to be a fine narrator – I hadn’t realised quite how many blog posts he’d written until I came to compile this list…

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/dog-blog-henrys-holleedaze-posticardies-to-me-mumi-1/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/dog-blog-henrys-holleedaze-posticardies-to-me-mumi-2/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/dog-blog-henrys-holleedaze-posticardies-to-me-mumi-3/

Archie zooming round our garden in his prime

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/dog-blog-henrys-holleedaze-posticardies-to-me-mumi-4/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-2/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2012/12/05/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-6/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-7/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-9/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/dog-bloghenry-beanz-holidaze/

Henry B Beanz and THE Indigo Dream pose in 2012

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-11/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2013/12/15/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-orgust/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2013/12/17/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-septimber/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-1/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2015/10/04/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-2-2/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-3-2/

Herbie enjoyed boating, but his favourite place was this radiator in our house – his nickname was “radiator boy” and that fixture will forever be “Herbie’s Radiator” 🙂

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2015/10/07/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-4-2/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-5-2/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2015/11/03/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-8-2/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-9-2/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2015/11/15/dog-blog-henry-beanz-holidaze-10-2/

Of course, while Henry Beanz was a fine stroyteller, you’d obviously expect a hound of Archie’s charisma to have a voice too. He was quite the ladies hound (one in every port!)

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2013/09/29/dog-blog-archie-beanz-secret-dossiers/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/dog-blog-archie-beanz-secret-dossiers-2/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/dog-blog-archie-beanz-secret-dossiers-3/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/dog-blog-archie-beanz-secret-dossiers-4/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/dog-blog-archie-beanzs-secret-dossiers/

https://indigodream.wordpress.com/2013/12/14/dog-blog-archie-beanzs-secret-dossiers-2/

Archie receiving our award for winning the BCN Marathon Challenge in 2018

Archie chasing Saffy across their private sandbank on the Nene last September

They were wonderful cruising companions and we will miss them more than we can say – we’ve always imagined a ghostly Indigo Dream moored under the mythical rainbow bridge – Henry and Archie will be reunited on the deck (Archie was never quite the same after Henry left – they were a bonded pair); Herbie will grab his favourite bed where there will be an endless supply of hot chickens and squeaky toys to eviscerate – run free Beanzy Boyz, run free.

Archie was the last of this famous pack to go to the bridge – truly the end of an era..