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The Kilmore Club in Stable Lane, Findon, in its heyday. |
THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.
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The Kilmore Club in Stable Lane, Findon, in its heyday. |
THE KILMORE CLUB
Copyright Valerie Martin 2000
Published in Findon News, August, 2001.
Josh Gifford rode a horse in the Grand National of 1962 but he was not on the winner. A horse named Kilmore won the race for Findon and for Captain Ryan Price with Fred Winter up..... see him win the race by clicking on....
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=42103
Gerald Coldstream and his wife ran a country club on the sunny Italian Riviera for eight years until they found the resort was becoming too touristy and prices were rising tremendously.
They both yearned for a home in Sussex, especially on the South Downs, and so searched for a suitable property. What better location could they have chosen than Findon? They bought a house in Stable Lane named Muthaiga from Mrs. N. Talbot Smith early in 1963.
The Coldstreams thought the name of the Kilmore Club was a more appropriate title for the new business they planned to open — as the Grand National winner, Kilmore, trained by Captain Ryan Price, was stabled just up the lane. Their plan was to open an intimate club for members only where people could come along for a quiet drink and pleasant dinner at reasonable prices. At first the Findon residents, especially the Stable Lane ones, objected to the idea of a club opening on their doorstep but soon the big day arrived.
Thirty-eight years ago this month, on Saturday, 31st August 1963, Captain Ryan Price raised his glass and officially opened the Kilmore Club, to a packed audience of 140. This included Captain Henry Kerby, the Member of Parliament for Arundel and Shoreham.
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Kilmore jumping to win the Grand National in 1962. |
The racehorse Kilmore was owned by film producer Nat Cohen, and his first attempt at the Grand National course was in 1961 when he came fifth. In 1962 he won at 28-1 with Fred Winter in the saddle. His third attempt was the following year when he fell the second time around at Beecher's Brook and this was his final race.
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1963 |
Kilmore in October 1963 making an appearance at the Horse of the Year Show amongst past winners of the Grand National. From left to right — Lovely Cottage (1946), Russian Hero (1949), Quare Times (1955), E.S.B. (1956), Mr. What (1958), Merryman II (196)), Nicolaus Silver (1961) and Kilmore (1962). |
Kilmore spent a pleasurable retirement on the Downs with a group of other retired racehorses, including the Gold Cup winner, What a Myth. Then, after he injured himself while out at grass, he lived his last years of retirement in luxury in a private paddock owned by the Findon sisters Rosemary and Marguerite Tripp. As the paddock was near the stables, Kilmore was able to see the other racehorses being put through their paces while he stood back and watched from behind the hedge.
Sadly, Findon's Grand National veteran Kilmore had to be put down at the age of thirty-one in September 1981 after a serious back problem when he had cracked a vertebrae.
Continue if you would like to to read
Rosyth Rocks Findon.THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE —
www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created exclusively for documenting life in Findon.
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E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com |
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