THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — the Findon Chronicles are created by Valerie Martin and contain great stories from her home village of FINDON, West Sussex, U.K.    Everyday tales about real people...... in fact, a potted history of the village.   The topics today, are history tomorrow.

 THE BLACK HORSE PHOTO ALBUM

Copyright Valerie Martin 1999.

I have discovered that the original Black Horse Inn lay at the southern end of Findon High Street and was described as a "bough house". I understand that this was a private house that was allowed to open its doors on special occasions for the sale of alcohol. These were such as the Great Findon Sheep Fair, for the sale of drink. It is reputed that the sum of ten shillings per night was paid for this privilege. I believe that some of the ancient cottages at the top end of Nepcote, now demolished, were also bough houses.

The name of the first brewer and beer house keeper I can discover is that of Henry Sayer in 1871.

By 1881 the Black Horse was run by John and Sarah (nee Ockenden) Peters.     Fred Walls was an ostler at the Black Horse in the days of John Peters and was still working there when he was married in 1903 and was the grandfather of Terry Walls (from Canberra, Australia).

In 1910, John Peters who had been the licensee for the past 44 years, died.   I am not sure if he owned the property or was just the tenant.   Sarah, his wife, died in 1933 and she was then one hundred years old.

Here is the Black Horse public house c. 1910.   Who are the Findonians depicted? 

click to enlarge the picture

In October 2011, Peter Russell emailed to explain all...."Hi Valerie, my name is Peter Russell i am sending you this email concerning the photo of the man and woman standing outside the Black Horse this is Arthur gregory Charman & Mary Jane Farrell & their son Reginald Charman the reason i know this is my mother has a photo very much the same as this.

Mary Jane Farrell/Charman was my paternal Great Grandmother & Reg was my great uncle who sadly passed away two years ago.

My Grandmother Violet Farrell also lived and worked at the pub.  Mary Jane Farrell/Charmans Grand daughter my mother is alive and well and lives in Littlehampton.

Reginald Charman served in the navy in the second world war on HMS Jason in his will he left me his and his wifes medals he lived all his life in Broadwater.

Regards Peter Russell"
 

The fact is that the tables are set for at least thirty persons.   Was this a children's tea party?    Was it in preparation for a wedding reception?    Or a christening?   Perhaps I will never know unless someone writes in and tells me with first hand information. 

  Here's a little about Arthur Gregory Charman who appears to have connections with the Black Horse Inn between 1887 and 1934.....

 click on image to enlarge

Just after Easter in 2008 Terry Walls in Canberra wrote....Dear Valerie....Here is a picture of my Grandfather Fred Walls and his wife Ellen (nee Simmons) taken in 1912 in Worthing with their then children including Mabel (the oldest on the left) who was born in the one of the houses attached to the Black Horse Inn in Findon in 1902 when Fred was supposed to be an ostler at the Inn. I met Edith and Olive and Margaret when I was in the UK in 1992. Since then they have all passed on.

A delightful sketch of the Black Horse Inn made in 1917 by C. Grant.

The words over the doorway in the 1920s were —

It is said that in 1924, the landlord of the Back Horse Inn, installed a wireless in the bar at the pub.   This resulted in the increase in the sale of beer as the locals sat longer in the pub to listen to the new novel invention.

The old Black Horse inn was demolished c.1939 at the time of the construction of the new A24 bypass.

c. 1950, the Black Horse was run by Horace and Phyllis Baber... could this be the family car?

I have pondered over the advertising/sign on the little building on the left of the photograph.   The first word is obviously "Teas"..... perhaps the second is "Suppers".    The last is maybe "Sandwiches".

I have not discovered much to record about the public house during recent years.    1973 was remembered at the Black Horse when Doris and Harry Binfield treated hundreds of Findon inhabitan6s o ree drinks at the Black Horse after their most fortunate win on the Littlewoods Pools of £273,000.

Another snippet from Findon's rich and varied history...  I think I'll give this one the title of "Trapped in the Pub".

About twenty drinkers at the Black Horse were confined in the pub after closing time one Thursday night back in November 1983. 

This was all because of a gas leak.  

The licensee John Ruskin telephoned the police to explain that customers could not leave after closing time.   He said he had summoned the Gas Board after he smelled gas.   The workmen had duly arrived and decided as a safety precaution it would be best if motorists did not start the engines of their cars in the car park until the gas supply had been turned off.

John Ruskin left the Black House after Christmas in 1983 (he had managed the pub for three years only) to return to a life of flying.  He had been in the Royal Air Force before entering the pub trade and decided to leave Findon and make a new career as a flying instructor with the Sultan of Oman's Air Force.

John's departure from the Black Horse coincided with the commencement of a £140,000.alteration scheme at the public house. 

Carlo Wenczka aged 32 was the new licensee with his wife, Penny.  For the first few weeks they had to survive amidst the building of the new extension which was to house a pool table, skittle alley and a room for functions.   A new kitchen was also built so that the hot bar food service could be extended.

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This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.