In July this year myself along with my girlfriend Jyoti and a group of some of my good friends will be climbing the highest mountain in the UK, Ben Nevis during the night time to help to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society and we are doing this in memory of my dad Peter Renny who on the 18th February 2014 lost his courageous fight with this most terrible of diseases.

My family and I are incredibly proud of dad’s career as a Metropolitan Police Officer – a career that spanned an incredible 47 and a half years. After leaving Scotland as a fresh faced 18 year old dad joined the Met as a Police cadet in 1960 and after graduating from Hendon Police college he worked as a Police Constable based at Arbour Square Police station in Stepney where he ‘walked the beat’ around the 1960's East End of London. Dad then worked as the collator at Arbour Square in addition to a spell working at Leman Street police station. Towards the end of his policing career dad joined the Met’s Force Intelligence Bureau based at Caledonian Road up until his retirement on the 14th November 1993, marking 33 years of exemplary service during which dad received three commendations from his borough commander for his work.

This would have been enough for most people but dad clearly had unfinished business as he quickly re-joined the Met and worked at Plaistow as a civilian in the collators office gathering intelligence on amongst other things, violent burglaries across the borough of Newham before moving to Forest Gate and finally Stratford as an researcher in the borough intelligence unit.

During dad’s long Police career he attended many incidents and helped the victims of crime too numerous to mention but the following are ones that particularly stand out.

On the 5th November 1967 dad and a colleague were taking an ‘area car’ back to a depot in SE London when over the police radio came the news of a terrible rail crash at Hither Green station. As they were close by dad and his colleague were two of the first officers at the scene where they helped the survivors of the devastating crash which altogether claimed the lives of  49 people as well as scores of injured in what remains today one of Britain's worst rail crashes.

Dad was also in attendance at The Blind Beggar pub following the aftermath of the notorious shooting by the Kray gang in March 1966. In July 1974 he helped carry the wounded to safety following the IRA bombing of the White Tower in the Tower of London before being so badly overcome by the dust that he needed hospital treatment himself. During his career dad even taught former Met Deputy assistant commissioner Roy Clark how to pound the beat.

On the 13th December 1988 dad was granted the honour of the Freedom of the City of London at a ceremony at London's Guildhall. One of the oldest surviving traditional ceremonies still in existence today it is believed that the first Freedom was presented in 1237. The award of the Freedom of the City of London remains as a unique part of London’s history to which a select few have been proud to be admitted and dad joins, to name just a small number, the following famous people as fellow holders of the title:- Sir Winston Churchill, Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Florence Nightingale.

When dad finally retired from the Metropolitan Police Service on April 1st 2008 he was thanked personally for his efforts by the then Commissioner Sir Ian Blair (the ninth that he served under) during a personal meeting in his office at New Scotland Yard.

Dad recalled how the Commissioner asked him about his Police career and remarked how the commissioner ‘hit the nail on the head’ when he said that dad had a career of two halves. When dad joined the Met in 1960 policing was in many ways like it had been for many years previously in that if he needed to summon help, he would blow on his police whistle!  Things then changed during the second half of his police career when police radios and computer technology was introduced and policing was transformed forever. Dad loved the job that he did and often spoke fondly of the good times he had during his career and of the many wonderful friends that he made.

We would like to thank everyone for your incredible messages of support which have meant so much to us and has helped us greatly to come to terms with the loss of such a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and friend. We will never be able to thank you enough. Much love to you all for your sincere and kind words and thoughts.

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