Contributor: Through Our Ancestors' Eyes

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Caroline Stride Trans 1 CH2    Duration: 5:12

CB:  That’s brilliant.  So tell me about your family, your own family now.

Caroline: My own family?

CB:  Your sons.

Caroline:  My sons.  Well, we have three sons:  Robert, who in his own right has ponies and cattle; he is married to Lyndsey and they have a twin, [information withheld] and [information withheld];  They are very involved in Forest life, Robert being now vice-chairman of the New Forest Commoners Defence Association; and has got very involved in Open Forest management with the CDA; and is really following in the footsteps I think of his father in being very concerned about how the open forest is managed and wanting to make sure that the Commoners views are upheld at committee level; and they’re very happily married and living at Acres Down and they have a small herd of beef cattle as well in their own name and they have New Forest ponies – and pigs. I forgot to mention pigs. 

Andrew, who is now living at Burley happily married to his wife, Kirsty, and they have a twin and they are [information withheld] and [information withheld] and they have got a small herd of New Forest ponies which they – that are running on the Forest, they’re just beginning to get their feet down at Burley ‘cos they’ve only recently moved in to their house – only about ten months ago.  We have Philip, who has moved into our old home at Bolderwood. And he is married to Johannah, very happily married to Johannah; and they have a son, [information withheld] and they’re expecting a baby in the spring of this year so we’re very pleased and excited about that event which – God Bless – all will go well there. 

And he is just, just starting out on the journey of getting a small herd of beef cattle up together and they run New Forest ponies on the forest anyhow and they have a sow, a pig up at Bolderwood, like we always had a pig at Bolderwood, so we’re really very happy with how things have turned out really with the children.  So far, so good, that’s all I can say.

CB: Commoning is, is

Caroline:  Commoning’s my life! Yes it is, it takes over our whole life.  You know, people look at you and think, you know ‘What do you do all that for?’  But it’s some thing that’s in your blood, it’s something you want to do, it’s a reason for going for a walk out in the Forest to find your cows, to find your ponies, or find the pigs.  You might get roped into having to do a bit of running round, and stopping a gap somewhere along the line, and shutting the gate quick or ‘Stop that cow!’ or whatever but yeah, it’s something actually that, it’s something that I think it’s born in you, it was certainly born in me, my parents being dairy farmers as well as Commoners, and from a very early age we were out either feeding the calves or leading a pony round or something, there was – you know, we’ve always had the animals in our lives so it would be very difficult to imagine life without that animal commitment.  And, yes, it is a way of life.

CB:  Okay, so going back to your three sons, just tell me Robert’s prefix –

Caroline:  Robert’s prefix is Cuffnells – now, he’s got Cuffnells now.  Andrew’s… his brand is IS which was his great-grandfather’s brand on the Stride side, it was Isaac Stride so that is the IS; and the ponies that he has bought have obviously all been registered before and they.ve probably evolved from Cuffnell’s or Rushmoor;  and with Philip, I think I can say the same with their prefix.  I might be talking out of turn but, if I am I apologise and I will find out that information, but his brand is UP, Philip’s brand is UP and that is Charlie Penny’s old brand from the farm here at Blackwater; UP.

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Caroline Stride Trans 1 CH3    Duration: 6:01

CB:  Okay, lovely.  Right.  Let’s go on to this first photograph (CS001).  Now what can you tell me about this handsome looking chap on the horse?

Caroline:  Right, well this gentleman is George Henry Penny and he was the first farmer to have lived in this house at Blackwater; the house was built and they were the first people to move in it.  So there’s always been a Penny in this house or Penny related in this house.  The picture was taken outside of the farm, looking back towards Blackwater House.  He – George Henry Penny – is Richard’s great-grandfather. 

CB:  Okay –

Caroline:  On his father’s side.  When?  I think it’s probably the date is probably 1915, 1920, approximate.

CB:  Okay.   Right, lovely. So this second photograph, (CS002) Who’s this?

Caroline:   This gentleman on the photo is Charles Hayter Penny and he was the son of George Henry Penny and this is of  him as a young man, probably about the time that he got married, so I’d say sort of early, mid-twenties in his age, and he is outside of Blackwater Farm, just where the cart house is now; but the old cart house that you see in the background is facing the other way to what it is now in 2017, it’s near where the cowshed is, it’s facing a different way.

CB:  Okay.  When do you think that was again, roughly?

Caroline:  I would say it was probably in the early nineteen twenties probably.

CB:  Yeah.  That’s lovely.  Okay, so number three (CS003)

Caroline:  This is another picture of George Henry Penny, dated in probably 1915, 1920. It’s outside of the farm, here at Blackwater.  It shows the track going down towards Blackwater Bridge, as being a gravel track, so, you know, that’s obviously before any tarmac was put down.  He was quite a respected man within the parish, he was the overseer; or certainly he is mentioned in the Parish notes in and around the time of the turn of the century, 1898 or 1900.  He was mentioned in there as parish overseer, so he was quite a respected man within the parish of Minstead because we are in the parish of Minstead here at Blackwater Farm.

CB:  Okay.  Let’s have a look at this next one, so number four (CS004)

Caroline:  Ah. Now the Penny family here at Blackwater had a milk round and this is Charlie Penny, Charlie Hayter Penny as a young man, probably before he got married and he was the er, his role was to go round and sell milk in the milk float as you can see here in the picture and you can see the logo of ‘Penny’ G.H. Penny & Son, Dairy, Blackwater and they had the milk round in this area and going down into Lyndhurst High Street as well  I’ve heard them say.

CB:  Okay

Caroline:  And they used to have little quart or pint  um …little

CB:  Churns

Caroline:  Churns. Well, or dippers –

CB:  Oh, I see –

Caroline:  Dippers – They had big churns and little dippers, and they used to dip out um –

CB:  As much as –

Caroline:  Mrs. Smith came to the door with a pint of milk, so Mrs. Smith came to the door with her jug and they put the pint in the jug –

CB:  Oh, I see –

Caroline:  Then, in another picture a bit later on you’ll see bigger churns but – and George Henry’s wife, Emma, she used to make butter and cream and that would all have been done within, you know, a home industry here.  The dairy would’ve been adjoining the house here and they would’ve sold all dairy products to local inhabitants of the village.

CB:  And do you think that’s a New Forest pony?

Caroline:  ((After a pause) Possibly.  Yeah, yeah, possibly, I think.

CB:  He’s got the look of a forester, hasn’t he.

Caroline:  Yes .. Yeah.

CB:  Okay let’s have a look at the next one – number five (CS005)

Caroline Now this is Charlie Penny, Charlie Hayter Penny, this is Richard’s grandfather again.  They were a family of horsemen, I will say. And they had a real belonging to the equine breed and they looked after them incredibly well, as you can see. They used to break them in and all sorts. And this is him again, outside of Blackwater Farm, by the cart house again in the background and er

CB:  I love his britches.

Caroline:  Yeah.  Yeah.  And gaiters.  He never wore welly boots.

CB:  Really.

Caroline:  No. No. never wore welly boots.  Hated them.

CB:  Right.

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Through Our Ancestors’ Eyes

An interview with Caroline Stride at her home, Blackwater Farm in Emery Down on 7^th 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.

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Caroline Stride Trans2 CH2   Duration: 6:16

CB:  Lovely. Thank you Number thirty-four (CS234)

Caroline:  Just a scene actually of the pony sales and the activity that’s going on.  Nobody actually comes to the fore that I can easily recognise, but just the interest in the ponies.  From the nineteen eighties onwards there was quite an influx of coloured ponies coming in; of course, they’re not New Forest ponies but there was a lot of interest with travelling people with coloured ponies and they seemed to be quite a lot of them about at the present time.

CB:  Mm Mm.  Right, thirty-five (CS235)

Caroline: This is actually a pony round-up, pony drift and to the left of the picture I would say that was John Stride riding ‘Brusher’, a riding horse he had at the time and that’s my husband almost centre of the picture on a grey and that was Laddie, yeah.

 CB: Where is this, can you -?

Caroline:  It doesn’t look very familiar to me.  I ought to know.  I would say ….  I’d like to say Durr Hill but I’m not sure; I ought to know, but I don’t.

CB:  Okay. No worries.

Caroline:  In the Burley area somewhere, I think.

CB:  Yeah. Thirty-six (CS236)

Caroline:  Right, well that’s coming from a different angle – Looking at that picture, it’s the same riders –

CB:  Yeah.

Caroline:  Yeah.

CB:  It’s a nice group photo.  Mmm, thirty-seven (CS237)

Caroline:  Now this is Silver Sands Bridge at Burley and to the left of the picture is Richard.  They’re probably holding them up from the round-up they’ve had at Silver Sands Pound and they hold them on the railway bridge there; and the person to the right of the picture looking away, is his brother, John Stride.

CB:  Lovely.  Thirty-eight (CS238)

Caroline:  This is the same pound actually, I would say, at Silver Sands and the left of the picture is Richard, in the blue jumper is John Stride; And the fellow with his back to us here is Kenny Rostagina and both our family and certainly Kenny Rostagina had ponies running in the Burley area. That area would have been Durr Hill, Thorny Hill, out to the Crow Road, all that sort of area.

CB:  Yeah.  Okay.  Thirty-nine (CS239)

Caroline:  Ah, now, this picture is, I think, when they were rounding up stallions.  I don’t know if this was for the rodeo or whether it was just rounding up stallions but to the left of the picture that’s Jonathan Gerrelli; next to him is Jeff Kitcher; next to him is Jimmy Winter; and Richard coming behind on the grey.

CB:  When do you think that was?

Caroline: Again, in the eighties I would say.

CB:  Okay. And forty (CS240)

Caroline:  Well I would say they’ve caught a stallion there because there’s this – on the left of the picture there’s a stallion being held by Richard Deakin. This picture, actually, was of members of the New Forest Stallion Syndicate and they were formed in the late nineteen seventies, but eighties and still present day, two thousand and seventeen are still running as an organisation or syndicate that turns stallions out on the forest or try to achieve a good type of stallion to run out on the Forest. And I guess this was one of the Syndicate’s stallions.  So the person holding the stallion as I’ve already said is Richard Deakin; Jeff Kitcher mounted on the chestnut; his back to us is Jimmy Winter, and Richard on the grey. 

CB:  Forty-one (CS241)

Caroline:  Yeah, this actually is at the rodeo and this I would say is Colin Moore trying his luck at an untamed New Forest pony riding.  This was probably at Fritham and we had some rodeos at Fritham and centre of the picture with a flat cap on and a clipboard in hand is Mike Eccles and he was a judge and he’d probably count how many bucks the pony put in before they unseated the rider. He’s been a great supporter of all Forest activities and societies, so he was involved in that as well.

CB:  Who’s that chap behind the lorry there?  Is that Billy Howells?  No, can’t be, can it?

Caroline:  Well, I don’t think it is. Similar, but I don’t think it is him; but he’s a familiar face so I ought to know who it is.

CB:  Okay – what was it in aid of?

Caroline:  Funds for –

CB:  Commoners’ Defence or (..?..)

Caroline:  I think it was for Stallions Syndicate.

CB: Oh, Stallions Syndicate, yeah, okay.

Caroline:   I think the funds went for Stallions Syndicate.

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Caroline Stride Trans2 CH3   Duration: 6:49

CB: Brilliant.  Okay.  And forty-two (CS242)

Caroline:  Again, this was the rodeo; again, I think it’s possibly up at Fritham; not sure who that rider is there, but the ponies came out of this chute, this sort of penning area here and then they were sort of just let free to go out – 

CB:  And hold on tight –

Caroline:  And hold tight, yeah.

CB:  Okay, forty-three (CS243)

Caroline:  Oh, right. Yeah, and behind the scenes there were lots of people working; and we had a barbecue as well and to the left of the picture we have [information withheld] and Buzz Terry in the white coat there putting sausages in the pan – we did hot dogs and beef burgers and they were very well received by anyone there at the rodeo.  My mother in law, Vera Stride, with the long-handled slice there and myself here probably waiting for the beef burgers to come out of the pan or something, because it looks as though they’ve got the buns ready.

CB:  That’s lovely. Forty-four (CS244)

Caroline:  Ah, now, this must be on one of the round-ups, not sure where that would’ve been.  I can only sort of identify two riders:  on the chestnut to the left of the picture is [information withheld], [information withheld] wife; and to the right of the picture on the big chestnut is John Booth, the agister at the time.

CB:  Okay.  Forty-five (CS245) 

Caroline:  Another drift picture: on the left of the picture, that would be [information withheld] – no, tell a lie: on the chestnut with the white blaze, that’s [information withheld]; not sure who it is on the black; on the grey is [information withheld];  I would say on the fourth one in, the black pony, is possibly Colin Moore; on the bay, the lady on the bay is [information withheld]  –

CB:  With the blue t-shirt –

Caroline:  Yeah, with the blue t-shirt on; on the appaloosa pony, I would say that’s [information withheld]

CB:  Okay –

Caroline:  Looking away. 

CB: Right.  Forty-six (CS246)

Caroline:  Now this is a picture of John Booth and he was an agister, possibly at this time, I’m sure he would have been still; mounted on the pony is Raymond Bennett.

CB:  Forty-seven (CS247)

Caroline:  This day – a picture of the colt hunters; I would say [information withheld] to the right, [information withheld], the third horse back from the right; Richard fourth; probably John Booth behind Richard –

CB:  Can’t really see –

Caroline:  The others, yeah, yeah; but I fancy that’s down Burley, down Woods Corner.

CB:  Yeah, yeah. Does look like it, actually.

Caroline:  Yeah.

CB:  And again that’s ‘eighties.

Caroline:  Yeah, I would say in the ‘eighties.

CB:  Forty eight (CS248)

Caroline:  Well, a little bevy of young commoners of the day: um, it’s me, stood there overseeing the poking of the fire; I would say this is probably the back view, to the right is Philip; the middle of the three boys is Andrew and Robert, Robert poking the fire.  The other two…

CB:   I’m not sure who they are, they don’t look very familiar.

Caroline:  I’ve got some ideas but I don’t think I’d better say it in case I’m wrong because I – I just don’t know; but certainly that is Woods Corner.

CB:  Yeah.  Forty-nine (CS249)

Caroline:  Right, obviously they’ve just loaded something up in Jim’s lorry, I should think, [information withheld] being centre of the picture;  Richard stood there grinning straight at the camera and  I’m not sure what John’s doing, but he’s probably just – (The look on Richard’s face!?*)

CB: Okay, number fifty (CS250)  

Caroline:  Oh, right, this is at Beaulieu Road along the same time as well, I would say the late ‘eighties.  The lady in the ring is Tilly Cooper and she’s obviously showing off her pony, or foal she’s got in the ring and

CB:  Right. Can’t see any other –

Caroline: Well, the gentleman just alongside the rostrum there with the hat and with a white jacket underneath his winter coat is Johnny Burden who was a dealer who came up –

CB:  Big dealer wasn’t he.  Used to buy –

Caroline:  Yeah.

CB:  Okay.  Number fifty-one (CS251)

Caroline:    That’s Robert, our son Robert riding his little, their first pony, Beeby; he was a Welsh Mountain and that’s taken just – Bratley View, looking down towards Bratley Enclosure at Bolderwood.

CB:  And how long ago d’you think that…?  What is he, about ten there?

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah, I would say, yeah, he might’ve been a bit older; I’d say it was in the early…….  I’m looking at the little one who’s trying to be an aeroplane behind and that’s Philip; and he must’ve been three or four then, so I’d have said that would be late ‘eighties, actually.

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Caroline Stride Trans2 CH4  Duration:  5:54

CB:  Okay.  Fifty-two (CS252)

Caroline:   That’s at Bolderwood, at our home at the time:  Robert riding and Philip, our youngest bunking up –

CB:  Yeah, pillion –

Caroline: Yeah, in the front

CB:  Okay.

Caroline:  And the pigs went for a walk with them as well. 

(CS253)

Caroline:  Now this is a picture of, I would say, possibly at the races, point-to-point races one Christmas. The person leading the pony – the horse – I guess would’ve just taken part in the races, is Raymond Stride, my younger brother-in-law; on the pony, the little one with the red boots is Sarah Stride, Raymond’s daughter; and sat behind her is [information withheld], and the person walking alongside is [information withheld] – as young children.

CB:  Oh, lovely. Fifty-four (CS254)

Caroline:  Fifty-four, this is a picture of out in the forest with Peter Brown to the left of the picture and [information withheld].  They worked together a lot of the time through the ‘eighties and early ‘nineties, so they were into a lot of splitting of oak for cleft fencing, pale fencing, and they were on different projects for a long time.

CB:  And did they – was that Forestry Commission work?

Caroline:  Yeah.  Forestry Commission work.

CB:  Fifty five  (CS255)

Caroline:   And there you see them actually splitting out oak or chestnut to make the palings and you can see the paling fence.

CB:  Lovely.

(CS256)

Caroline:  Ah, now that’s a picture of us, Richard, my husband, with his arm on the trailer; we went down to see a commoner down in the south of the Forest, [information withheld], lived at Norley Wood, and we bought an old Forest cart off him, an old Forest truck. I think that’s what we must’ve had loaded up on the trailer. Yeah.

CB:  Okay.  Fifty-seven  (CS257)

Caroline: Right now, not really sure where this picture was taken.  It’s at the point-to-point start I would say, and in the picture to the left I’m stood with Philip our youngest son; in front of me was Richard and Andrew stood directly in front of him, our middle son; Richard is talking to Bob Mansbridge and walking over to him would be [information withheld] and his daughter [information withheld]; and behind him is walking, [information withheld].  The huntsman in the background, I can’t be absolutely certain or the person in the hunt uniform I can’t really say.

CB:  Mmm. Okay. Again… (CS258) That’s Longdown, isn’t it?

Caroline:  That is Longdown, isn’t it.  I wonder if that other one – I think it was Longdown.  This one on the grey is [information withheld] –

CB: Heading for the kids’ race –

Caroline:  I would say, possibly, to the far right was Robert, our eldest son, with the number 4 on

CB:  Oh, okay.  Yeah.

Caroline:  Mmm  

CB:  Lovely. (CS259) Is that anyone you know?

Caroline:  I don’t know this person on the – That might’ve been the year that they finished at Hilltop.  It was a very, very foggy morning, I remember.

CB:  It’s just a good shot for the point-to-point.  Number sixty (CS260)

Caroline:  Yeah. Well I would probably say the number 1 is Raymond Bennett and number 2 – it might be one of the Miss Mangins.

 CB:  Okay.  He’s in red, so – [information withheld] always wears red, doesn’t he –

Caroline:  Yeah, he does.

CB:   I can see Bert there, but is it John?

Caroline:  My guess is this is the Veterans.

CB:  Oh, okay.  Did he do the Veterans, yeah, of course he did.

Caroline:  Yes.

CB:  I think that’s your father-in-law.

Caroline:  Yeah. I think –

CB:  I think there’s a photo in a minute with him collecting his prize.

Caroline: Okay.  Okay.

CB:  (Indistinct) (CS261)

Caroline:  There’s – There on the grey pony, probably – ‘What went wrong in the races’, I think, looking at Jessie Winter’s expression – What happened next?  And this lady here is Steve Lane’s wife, Sheila, and I’m stood there behind, yeah.

CB:  Number sixty-two (CS262)

Caroline:  And this is Charlotte Stride; not sure what the pony was but obviously it was when she was riding in the Childrens’ Race … at Longdown.

CB:  And how old do you think she was there?

Caroline:  Twelve or fourteen?

CB:  I would have said the same, actually.

Caroline:  Yeah.

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Caroline Stride Trans2 CH5   Duration: 7:02

CB:  Roughly. Okay, sixty-three (CS263)

Caroline:  Ooh, right, well:  Yeah, this must’ve been [information withheld] mount in the races; and [information withheld] at the head of the horse. Directly above the saddle is Bill House; and to the side of him just the headshot that you see I guess would be Brian Bridle and the gentleman to the right of the picture is Dave Maton, who was [information withheld] Maton’s brother.

CB:  Sixty-four (CS264)

Caroline:  Before any of the races or if that is at the races or the Stallion Passing the ponies are measured and that’s John Broughton measuring a pony.

CB:  And he was the Society vet wasn’t he?

Caroline:  Yeah.

CB:  I don’t know, who’s holding it?

Caroline:  A familiar face but I can’t put a name to it.

CB:  Okay.

(CS265)

Caroline:  This must be the Stallion Passing, I would say and to the left of the picture is Joan Wright in a blue with a little pattern on it jacket. Next to her is Brian Ingram; back view of [information withheld] in the skirt; Donny Dibden is holding on to a grey pony – I’m sure it would be a stallion presented for the Passing; back view of David Stagg with the grey hair and to the right of the picture I think is probably Leonard.

CB:  Yes, and where was this?

Caroline:  That in my mind looks a bit like at The Bentley’s.

CB: Sixty-six (CS266)  Oh, that’s a nice one.

Caroline:  Erm, just a forest scene of cattle and how they browse on all sorts of vegetation, there sort of reaching up to feed on some oak leaves.

CB:  Sixty-seven  (CS267)

Caroline:  Here’s another one of cattle, it’s probably the same cow browsing on the bilberries there. And, yeah, I mean they forage over many different types of vegetation.

CB:  Sixty-eight  (CS268)

Caroline: This was a freeze branding session we had at Bolderwood in the eighties.  Our pound and crush was used and it was sort of a collective event because there’s different people here, you know, brought their cattle up to be freeze branded, quite something in the eighties in the time when hot branding was finished or stopped –

CB: Can I ask why?

Caroline:  Mmm.  Well, we were always told that it was because the mark of the brand, the cauterising  the print of the brand on the cow’s skin ruined the most valuable bit of the hide of the cow, so the freeze branding came in as a form of ID of the cattle along the time in the eighties or it might even have been earlier than that, in the ‘seventies perhaps.  And so it was quite a performance, getting hold of the dry ice which is a mixture of dry ice and methylated spirits which made the solution down incredibly cold, sort of -70 and then you put your bronze brand plates in the solution, made them incredibly cold and then you had to hold them on the cow’s skin for a good thirty seconds.  Not everyone had the facilities to capture cattle in the way that we did at the time; I mean this looks very outdated now but at the time it was quite acceptable to use.  And to hold them securely ‘cos the cows, once they started to feel the pain of the freezing going in on their rump, they started to jump about and wriggle about, yeah. So here in the picture, outside of the pound, I think that’s [information withheld], who was the brother of [information withheld] who was stood in the pound to the right of the picture and I think they worked together right to sort of retirement age and [information withheld] kept a few cows.  They lived and they had lived for many years at Angels’ Farm, Pinkney Lane, Lyndhurst and we’ve been friendly with them a long time so when they found out we were doing some freeze branding or having a freeze branding session we all sort of collectively got together and did the session all together. The gentleman in the foreground is Les Maton, so my guess is he had some cattle there as well.  He was a commoner from Burley.

CB:  Okay, that’s lovely. Sixty-nine (CS269)

Caroline:  What we have again another sort of collection of people: to the left of the picture was Richard stood in the orchard, barn in the background; it would have been the right side of the cow that would be branded The person and I think that’s probably [information withheld] astride the back end of the crush just clipping off a patch of hair that we could successfully or the brand could be successfully applied to the skin there.  The person bending over the top of the crush I think  is possibly Terry Jones as the agister and the two people on the sort of right side – certainly the furthest one is [information withheld]; now whether the person in the foreground on the outside the orchard boundary is [information withheld]

CB:  I think it’s [information withheld], I think it is –

Caroline:  Mmm. He’s got another son as well, [information withheld].

CB:  Oh, okay –

Caroline:  Yeah, so I’m not sure, but

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Caroline Stride Trans2CH6   Duration: 7:18

CB:  Okay, and number seventy  (CS270)

Caroline: Ah, right.  Now this must be at the point-to-point races.  We have [information withheld], a retired vet from Seadown Veterinary Hospital, now one of the founder members of the Seadown Group; not sure who the white-haired person is there, perhaps that’s his wife but I don’t know; then centre with his tie on dishing out or handing out the rosettes is [information withheld]; the girl in the foreground who has just collected her rosette is [information withheld], that’s John Stride’s daughter, my niece; to the side it is [information withheld] who has always helped out with judging and helped out on occasions like this, at the point-to-point.

CB:  Okay. Seventy-one (CS271)

Caroline:  Again I would say at the point-to-point races, the prize-giving and I would say it was on the same occasion.  The person who is holding the cup and the rosettes is Jack Moore, that’s [information withheld]

Moore’s father.  On the tailboard is Philip Stride with the little blue top on and I would say that’s probably his cousin [information withheld] in the red.

(CS272)

Caroline: I guess this is a stallion passing session, again it is possibly it’s North Bentley, and the person holding on to the stallion centre of the picture is Jeff Kitcher;  I think [information withheld] to the left of the stallion is somehow trying to assist in managing the stallion; in the background over Jeff’s shoulder I think it might be Lennie Mansbridge –

CB:  Leonard

Caroline:  Lennie – Leonard, sorry, yeah.  To the right of the picture I think that’s probably Cherry Stokes who is Debbie’s mother.

CB:  Yes, I would say so.  Right, seventy-three (CS173)  

Caroline: In the picture to the left we have Jeff Kitcher followed by, stood next to him is Raymond Bennett;  John Stride in a brown coat; stood next to John is Les Maton; they’re probably all listening to what Brian Ingram was saying, who is next to [information withheld] and I guess that was something about the Stallion Passing.

CB:  Mm mm.

(CS274)

Caroline:  Now this is the author, or the photographer of all of these pictures was Steve Lane and he is the gentleman that you see with the flat cap looking directly towards the picture and his old driving horse that he had at the time, Sam; he came very late in his life to country living and country life, he worked in a factory in Poole and sadly his health suffered from the stress and strain of working in such an environment so he almost opted out of that way of life and came to live in Burley and he took up driving at a later time of his life but he so enjoyed it and photography, hence the pictures that we’re seeing in this collection.  And that’s possibly up in Berry Wood because living from Burley he’d go out and collect wood or walk up through Berry Wood at Burley. And yeah, loading up wood.

CB:  Okay, seventy-five (CS275)

Caroline:  Now this I think is the occasion of the marking of Terry Jones’ Memorial Pound down at Hurst Hill.  Now the gentleman who is stood in the middle of the picture is Lord Manners and at the time he was the official verderer.  A collection of people there at the occasion at Hurst Hill:  To the left of the picture is [information withheld] and his wife, [information withheld]; and I guess one of their boys there in front. Not sure who some of those people are next to them but certainly Brian Ingram, [information withheld] with the green tie on; Brian Ingram there with the grey cardie on; 

CB:  Oh that’s erm … Tillier

Caroline:   Brian Tillier, yes.  And I think there, the gentleman with the handkerchief to his nose is Archie Cleveland. And then it’s Twinkle Seaton who was wife to [information withheld] with the blue waistcoat on; I ought to know that other lady and I do apologise, but I don’t know her name, but I know her face.

CB:  Seventy-six (CS276)

Caroline:  Now this is along the Bolderwood Road; just a way from The Portuguese Fireplace there is an old well and in the nineteen eighties there was a real drive by the Forestry Commission to list all the wells within the Forest. In this case this probably dates from the time of the Portuguese using the area around the fireplace as their cookhouse and doing their forestry work in the First World War.   And it’s probably where they got their water from, they built this well.  A lot of them fairly deep and for that reason they had to be capped off correctly or properly but they didn’t want to fill them in, in case there was a need for this sort of water source in the future, so the Commission at the time were capping them over and if in the case it was Peter Brown who was doing the job you can see walking towards the fence, he would put a wooden top on them, a hinged top so they could be accessed easily,  with a padlock on so nobody could open them up and tamper with them and then put the cleft rails around so it made it a bit of a feature.  And, yeah, still there today.

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