THE DRIVE TO DONCASTER

Copyright Valerie Martin 2008

Originally published in Findon Pages dated July 2008

In the Findon horse-racing world the Captain was renowned for his blunt manner, his temper and, I am told, usually uttered rapidly fired commands. He did not expect his actions to be questioned on any account. It was said that his bark was worse than his bite — but some of his language was unsuitable for the ladies of the village to hear.

I am told that there was a certain occasion when a young stable girl fell off her horse and lay on the ground and could not mount her steed again.    Ryan Price threw out a few of his fruity sentences of encouragement containing the f-word.   Quickly followed by —

"Throw your tits over and the rest will follow".

A contemporary at the Vale Stables on the A24 recalls "Price was one of the rudest, foul mouthed bastards you can imagine.   They used to ride work through our place with him in front roaring blasphemies at his stable girls, although a good jumps trainer he may have been".

I did not live in Findon in those days so I cannot vouch for any of the stable stories but although I lived a couple of counties away, I knew the name of Ryan Price.   I am told that the master of Downs Stables appeared to be always busy and, therefore, constantly in a hurry. The local community respected him and forgave him for his brusqueness and profanities. They admired him for his clever horse-racing skills, especially when they had backed one of his many winners, of course.

Elderly residents have recounted how they often discovered an extra fiver tucked in their pockets "after having a drink with the Captain at the Gun Inn". If there was a charity function in the village, a case of champagne would magically be delivered on the doorstep before the day.

He played golf and his opponents say he was quite a character on the course. 

July 1971, was not a good month for the Captain.  In fact, it was to go down as Black July.   He was taken to court and disqualified from driving for six months after pleading guilty to speeding and exceeding the 70 m.p.h. limit imposed on the A24 bypass. He subsequently received a fine of £20 for this local offence.   It was his third motoring conviction in the past three years and he was duly banned from driving his right-hand drive 1957 220S cabriolet Mercedes-Benz.

The Findonians of the day did not raise an eyebrow at the outcome but the court was silent as it heard how he had raced at an astonishing 90 and 95 m.p.h. from his stables in Findon to Doncaster.  He had apparently only allowed himself barely four hours to undertake the journey to a race meeting he was attending.   My guess is that he arrived in time.

The Captain was not a man to be beaten.   By 1981, he had purchased a second-hand Piper 235 Dakota with a six-cylinder single engine and four seats.    He had his own take-off and landing strip on his Findon Gallops (where the flying machine was parked).   He now had the freedom of the sky and able to fly to racecourses in record time with no fear of a police siren coming up behind him.

This was not to be the end of the car that was driven at speed to Doncaster.   In 2008, I heard from Steve Swithin in Morecambe and he asked whether I would allow him use some of the information on this page as he had an idea for an article for the Mercedes-Benz Club magazine.   His writing was concerning the same vehicle as driven by Ryan Price.  He also said he would send me some photographs of the car today.  I was delighted to become part of his story. His revelations were eventually published in the December 2008 issue of Mercedes-Benz "Gazette".

This is the gist of Steve's amazing tale of discovery as I was about to learn.   It was sometime in 2006, that he became aware of the existence of a rare Mercedes-Benz at a well kept secret location and he contacted the owner and arranged a clandestine visit.

  click on all images to enlarge

I do not think they quite blindfolded him or anything like that but it really was a cloak and dagger operation and he was sworn to secrecy and driven to an isolated farmhouse.    Out of view and hidden behind scrub and foliage from prying eyes was a moss encrusted Nissen hut.    As the doors were opened, the rear of a classic open-topped Mercedes was slowly revealed in the gloom to Steve.   The only light penetrating the cavern came from the doorway and a small cobwebby window at the far end.   As Steve's eyes grew more accustomed to the darkness, the grime covered model revealed itself to be of 1957 vintage and a 220S cabriolet.    It was indeed a rare sight as he knew that Mercedes only produced about twenty of this model with right-hand drive.

Steve learned that in the early 1970s, a dealership garage in Nottinghamshire had changed hands and tucked away in the property was this Mercedes-Benz convertible with 57,000 miles on the clock.   It had been in a collision with a motor bike and brought into the garage for storage in readiness for the outcome of an insurance claim.    The off-side near was damaged and it was explained to Steve that the car's owner, Ryan Price, did not return for the vehicle.

I will now put on my Sherlock Holmes hat.   If the accident occurred during the infamous drive to Doncaster  this would explain for it being taken to a garage en route and account for Ryan Price not returning for it because he was banned from driving.  

In time the Mercedes-Benz that had once stood at the Downs Stables in Findon was relegated to the Nissen hut out in the countryside with the intention of it being restored.   Here it stood collecting dust over the decades with its soft top crumbling away, the once shiny chrome beyond recognition, the carpet threadbare and the leather upholstery dirty and cracked.   

Alas, Ryan Price's former Mercedes-Benz is still awaiting that loving restoration today.

Continue if you would like to read The Downside of Being a Racing Village.

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created exclusively for documenting life in Findon.