Richard Derrington (Mark Hebden)
Mark Hebden
Dan
has become the spitting image of his deceased father. We remember Shula’s
first husband, Mark Hebden.
In
1980, Jill
and Phil Archer were pleasantly surprised when their daughter Shula brought
home her latest boyfriend. After a series of unsuitable men, sporty solicitor
Mark Hebden was much more the sort of person they thought Shula should settle
down with. And indeed she did, although the road both before and after marriage
wasn’t the smoothest.
Mark
was soon defending two hunt saboteurs, the Jarretts, on criminal damage
charges. This caused friction with keen huntswoman Shula. And Mark wasn’t shy
about publicly expressing his opinions of the local magistrates (one of whom
was Phil) when they found the couple guilty – a verdict which was overturned on
appeal.
Nonetheless,
on New Year’s Eve Shula accepted Mark’s proposal and they bought a cottage in
Penny Hassett. But by July Shula was having second thoughts and called the
wedding off. Devastated Mark was so shaken he even considered a change of
career to become a blacksmith.
As
Mark recovered, Shula found herself jealous of his subsequent girlfriend Jackie
Woodstock and fiancée Sarah Locke. In 1984, Shula visited Mark in Hong Kong, where he was working. It was a difficult
encounter. But when she returned, he followed her back and proposed again.
Married
at last
They
were married on 21 September 1985, initially living in a flat in the Old Wool
Market in Borchester and then in Glebe Cottage in Ambridge. Shula’s closeness
to Nigel Pargetter, and Mark’s long days commuting to a job in Birmingham, put some strain on the young
marriage.
But
things improved when Mark opened his own practice in nearby Borchester. In
1991, Shula was bemused when he took on a female, Asian partner. But she
eventually became friends with Usha Gupta
(now Franks), at least for a while.
The
couple hoped for a baby, but became unhappy and frustrated at their inability
to conceive. In 1992, Shula was shocked when her younger sister Elizabeth
aborted the child that they thought they might offer a home to. They started
IVF treatment, although apparently without much success.
Death
on the road
Tragically,
in February 1994 Mark was killed in a road accident, swerving to avoid Shula’s best
friend. Caroline
Bone (now Sterling) had been thrown from her horse which had been spooked
by a dangerous driver.
Mark
was never to know that Shula’s latest round of IVF treatment had been
successful. And he was never to hold his son. Daniel Mark Archer Hebden (now
Hebden Lloyd) was born on 14 November 1994.
Mark
was always a keen cricketer, for many years captain of the Ambridge team. His
memory lives on in the annual single wicket competition for the Mark Hebden
Memorial Trophy. And of course in the handsome bearing of his son.
Keri
Davies is an Archers scriptwriter and web producer.
Learn
more about Dan,
Shula,
Jill,
Elizabeth
and Caroline
in our Who’s Who
Single wicket cricket explained
