Caroline Stride, Transcript 2, Part 1
Through Our Ancestors’ Eyes
An interview with Caroline Stride at her home, Blackwater Farm in Emery Down on 7th February 2017
Images: Caroline Page, copyright reserved. For any rights requests, please contact the New Forest Heritage Centre in the first instance.
Caroline Stride Trans 2 CH1 Duration: 6:11
CB: This is Clare Bates interviewing Caroline Stride at her home Blackwater Farm in Emery Down, on the 7th February 2017. So we are on photograph number two hundred and thirty-one (CS231). What can you tell me about this one?
Caroline: This is a picture of Beaulieu Road, the old Beaulieu Road Sale Yard site before actually there was the ticketing building that is there now in 2017. The auctioneer is just putting the entries in, the ponies being entered into the ring and he’s ticketing them to making sure that they’re all ticketed up for presenting for the sale, the Beaulieu Road Sale Yard. The auctioneer and ticketing officer on that day must have been [information withheld]. He’s an auctioneer with Southern Counties Auctioneers from Salisbury.
CB: He’s the one with a clipboard?
Caroline: He’s the one with the clipboard, yeah.
CB: Right. Number thirty-two (CS232).
Caroline: Thirty-two is the Sale Yard at Beaulieu Road along the same time nineteen eighties. A different site than the new Sale Yard now in 2017 or when it was rebuilt. A nice pony in the ring belongs to Bill House, my uncle, with the diamond jumper on, in the sale ring there showing off his chestnut with flax mane and tail mare. An assortment of commoners and dealers within the ring and I will say from the left hand side of the picture: [information withheld] is only just in the picture; the two other people next door, one having something – he looks like he’s got something in his mouth – and the other gentleman with a stick down on the ground are two dealers, one of them being [information withheld]; and a female associate with him –
CB: Which one’s Michael?
Caroline: Michael’s the one with a jumper on, with a stick. Then we move round slightly to the person in the Barbour coat with the waxed peak flat cap on, that’s Eric Dovey and then the next person next to him with the arm up on the railings or the fence line is Clive Maton; then next to him is John Stride in the gateway, in the open gateway; and then the person who is selling the pony in the ring is Bill House; behind him is Brian Stride, you can just see the top of –
CB: Mmm
Caroline: Yeah. And then next to Bill House is – almost just to the right of him is Raymond Stride, Richard and John’s brother, younger brother; and directly behind him is actually John Booth with his young son Richard up on his shoulders. If we come back to this gentleman here is Peter Newman; and directly above him would be Donny Dibden and his brother Owen Dibden, with no hat on and horizontal stripes on his shirt; then Richard, my husband, talking to Don Stainer; and then there’s Lenny Mansbridge with his hand over his face, or over his mouth area of his face, with the little pork pie hat on –
CB: Who’s the auctioneer?
Caroline: The auctioneer is John Bundy.
CB: Okay, that’s lovely. And we think that’s again, probably –
Caroline: Nineteen eighties, late nineteen eighties.
CB: Yeah. Okay. Number thirty-three (CS233)
Caroline: Thirty-three – my guess it’s the same day of the sale, actually, a donkey in the ring. The person who is with the baseball cap on is Raymond Bennett in the ring; whether it’s his donkey or not, I’m not sure. On the gate is James Penny, who could well be the owner of the donkey, but I can’t say that, but I wonder why he’s there. Normally if they’re presenting their animals to sell, they come to the ring and just watch proceedings or perhaps give the vendors a bit more information about the animal, but it might be done just out of interest.
CB: So the top left, up above the ring with blonde hair, is that Alan?
Caroline: No, there’s Alan Ingram; directly behind him is Roy Hawkins. Yeah, Roy Hawkins.
CB: Right, we’ve got –
Caroline: And then we’ve got old Leonard; there under the rostrum of the auctioneer with the little trilby hat on; and his son – actually, young Lenny as he’s known is the opposite side of the rostrum there, again the auctioneer being John Bundy.