We first met this donkey just below Junction 10 on the M6, where, together, with two tiny Shetland ponies, it had been grazing the central reservation. The traffic flow at 3 am in 1980 was very quiet. Nevertheless two hefty policemen sighed with relief when we arrived.
Sweet Mile Meadow in the Valley of Beautiful Dreams Old Mother Headache lives in luxury

One of them exclaimed "This donkey is a real headache". "Come on, Mother Headache" we said and loaded all three of them on to our little horse box to return to the Sanctuary.

Two days later a short, rotund, bumblingly illiterate gypsy type arrived to reclaim the animals. He loved the little fat black Shetlands (and a cartoonist would draw great similarities) but "Dis old donkey wass eh wan wat em trubble" he muttered. "You wanna buy, mista" he rumbled on, repeating the sentence over and over. After half an hour of bartering I parted with £40 and the pile of scrap from the yard.

Mother Headache was relieved not to be getting into the battered van that served as pony transport, but she was extremely obstroculous to being handled or led about and was particularly determined not to have her ears touched.

We could only assume that her previous treatment had been much less gentle. So a kind and gentle routine was devised for her, after we had cleansed her of lice and worms.
She slowly began to appreciate that her ordeals were over and that the Sanctuary was a permanent home of peace. Through that winter she enjoyed a warm stable and, to the surprise of everyone, she produced a foal one morning in October. An old farm tale is that there is nothing more beautiful than a baby donkey and this proved correct.

Baby Jessica became a much loved and admired addition. She was adopted by a local superstore's staff, who supported her keep for many years.

Mother Headache settled in comfortably and gradually accepted human kindness and handling to the delight of hundreds of visiting children and at weekends she would tour local fêtes to help their fundraising. Although she would never agree to give donkey rides, she did accept fondling and petting, always persuaded by carrots and apples.

She was not young when she arrived and having enjoyed 26 years at the Sanctuary, she is happily growing old gracefully. She is on the list of old age pensioners for you to support to say hello, to send a few carrots for her to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the Sanctuary which gives Mother Headache and her old donkey friends the enjoyment of long living. When they are contented and cared for, donkeys live for a long long time. Our job is to make sure that their comforts and security are satisfied.

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