THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE - The Fourth Yard

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

THE FOURTH YARD

I made a little faux pas one day in April 2008 by writing "At one time Findon enjoyed three thriving racing stables..... one of these was The Vale".....

John Greves set me thinking about this by immediately emailing....."Racing Stables....3 - methinks there might have been 4 - small yard between Goatchers and the Village Hall".........

So I asked Pam Stepney who has lived in the village longer than yours truly.....

John G is right! There was a small yard between Goatchers and the village hall. I remember in the late 50`s early 60`s two heavyweight hunter types - I believe they were called Shrimpy and Buster - looked after and ridden by a man called Tom Howden.

He lived on the A24 near the Quadrangle in a house called Garth. He had a very nice wife and a small dog and I believe she moved to Homewood latterly after he died.

The horses were owned by someone called O`Riorden (probably spelt wrongly). They were beautiful creatures and Tom was a fine oldfashioned horseman.

After the horses went I think Goatchers took over the yard for cars. Pam."

The mystery deepened when I received this from Lawrie May in the West Indies.....

I think you will find this stable was in fact nominally part of Prices ?

I used to work there and occasionally get to go for a trip in the owners Ford Willys (the boys will know what I am talking about)

Certainly at the times I worked there the occupants were from Prices - usually recuperating.

Lawrie

So then I was not quite sure who owned the Fourth Findon Stable for adding to my narrative......was it Tom Howden or Captain Ryan Price? Were the racehorses just renting a stable during their recuperation from their injuries?

I quickly heard more from Lawrie May in the West Indies.... "I rest my case. Ridell lived in a big house in Pulborough. He was a racehorse owner and Price was his trainer. If he came down the acres to look at his horses they were probably recuperating there.

Ridell was incidentally what is now called a "petrol head". He owned a beautiful car which I think was an Alfa Romeo and an MV Agusta motorcycle.

If you crossed the lines at Pulborough station, climbed the embankment and walked north east you would come to his house. My dad fenced the whole property in the late fifties.

Whilts working on the railway side of the field (above the signal box) the steam shunter used to give me a toot and a blast of steam as he went by (straight out of the Railway Children isn't it !) Lawrie"

Lawrie then came up trumps with all the data for me....."More info on the stables, my sister says that indeed Tom Howden used the stables for his horses but that Ridell kept horses there as well.

In fact Tom gave my sister a lovely little terrier which was originally from Ridell (whom my sister says was a millionaire in the days when that meant something). Must have been a lot of forelock tugging when he was around !

Deanna says that Tom was a very nice chap and he once demonstrated how his beautiful horse could do "dance steps" which enthralled her. Typical female though she remembers nothing about the Willys jeep.

The freehold of the stables belonged to the Goatchers by the way. Lawrie"

MORE ON THE FOURTH STABLE.... this time from Roger Blackwell...."I also remember the horses in the yard next to Goatchers Garage [ I was the Saturday butcher boy who delivered meat to to Mrs, G.]

Tommy Howden worked there and his dog was a Manchester terrier named "Monty".

Major Riddell owned a fast car which I'm sure was an Allard [it had a long bonnet and distinctive radiator grill with vertical bars sloping down on a streamline profile].

I don't know how true this is but when he bought the car he was supposed to have said to the salesman ....

" OK, wrap the b . . . . r up!"

Quite a strong possibility. Roger B".

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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.

E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com