Contributor: Through Our Ancestors' Eyes

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Caroline Stride Trans 1 CH10    Duration: 5:43

CB:  So this is a continuation of Caroline Stride’s on the 2nd of February 2017 and we are looking at photograph number forty-eight (CS048 as above)

Caroline:  The gentleman who is on the pony is Monty Slightam.  He was the publican at the pub, the Royal Oak at Gorley before he became a forest keeper. And he had his family there: and the child in arms there is Audrey Slightam and when she grew up, then she became the wife of Ted Penney, hence the connection with the Penny family in the picture.

CB:  Okay, number forty-nine (CS049) This is a lovely picture.

Caroline:  This is the dairy cows, the milk cows that went out or belonged to the Penny family here at Blackwater Farm, Lyndhurst and they would have been gathered in off the Forest, waited there for them to be milked.  In the background you can see the barn, and there would have been in the barn two areas to the left of the picture; there would have been stalls in there that they stood in and they would have been milked in there and then taken back out again, or going out into the forest between milking.  Interestingly, the majority of them have got horns and I guess they were short horn cross mixture of cattle there, I don’t think you can identify any one of them as being a pure bred cow. The people in the picture I guess are the Penny family; probably the person in front of the double-doors to the right of the picture perhaps would be Charlie Penny with the boy in his arms – or child in his arms…

CB:  Yeah, that was a super picture.  Okay, and number fifty (CS050)

Caroline: Now this is a picture in Brockenhurst High Street and an old picture of the buckhounds;  I think its probably Jack Slightam there beside the car or alongside the car there, probably taking his hound out on hound exercise.

CB:  Number fifty-one (CS051)

Caroline: This is a picture I really know very little about but it – I just thought it was worth having as a record of timber being pulled out of the forest.  I fancy it is over in the Bartley Woodlands area but I know no more than that. 

CB: Mm.  Okay  ( CS052)

Caroline:  A picture of The Royal Oak at Fritham and I guess it’s Taylors or the publican would be Taylor probably in the dark clothing there in front of the bow window.  I have this in the collection – in my collection because my Granny Snelgrove, her early life she lived at Amberwood Cottage.  Her father, Jerry Snelgrove was a keeper at Amberwood Cottage, and her nearest village would have been Fritham. And no doubt there would have been, you know, some carryings-on in the Royal Oak at Fritham with Jerry Snelgrove and others.

CB: Right.  So we’re carrying on to a second collection; so this is the first, so Caroline, if you could tell me about this one. (CS101)

Caroline: A picture taken by an old friend of ours, [information withheld], who lived at Burley. And this picture was taken at Woods Corner and in the pound in the blue jumper is John Booth.  He was the New Forest Agister at the time and the one person behind him with the sledge hat on was [information withheld] or is [information withheld].

(CS102)

Caroline:  This is a rodeo up at Fritham, it was a fund-raising event for the New Forest Stallion Syndicate.  We had annual rodeos and this was the scene just where the chute where the ponies would be coming out is just behind this gentleman here with his back to us with the jacket on and the trilby hat –

CB:  Yeah.  Is that –

Caroline:  That’s Terry;

CB:  Oh, yes

Caroline:  That’s Terry talking to [information withheld] I think

CB:  So, [information withheld] on the left of the picture with the short wellies

Caroline:  Yeah.

              ( Indistinct passage, both talking at same time)

CB:  Buzz having a cigarette

Caroline: Yeah, having a cigarette.

CB:  When was this, do you know?

Caroline:  Um…

CB:  I think it must be ‘seventies, must it?  Eighties?  I can remember going.

Caroline:   It might have been early eighties.

Caroline:  Late –   It might have been early eighties.  Early ‘eighties.

CB:  Yeah.  So that was number two; on to number three (CS103)

Caroline:  Ah.  Now this is just a picture, I’m not sure where the point-to-point-races

CB:  Yeah.

(CS104)

Caroline:  Point-to-point races…

CB:  Okay, that was number four. Is that [information withheld] in front?

Caroline:  I would say that’s [information withheld], in front; I would say this is maybe [information withheld] on the black horse

CB:  Third

Caroline:  To the right

CB: Third

Caroline:  Coming in third, yeah.

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Caroline Stride Trans 1 CH11    Duration: 6:35

CB:  Okay.  Number five (CS105)

Caroline:  Yeah, so here we have Eric Young

CB:  Far left –

Caroline Far left is Eric Young and that’s [information withheld] father, a very good supporter of all Forest organisations and supporter of Commoning;  [information withheld] with 66 on leading the black horse there; in the centre with 39 is [information withheld], his daughter; and in the red and red skull cap on is [information withheld] who was Mervyn’s second wife.

CB:  Lovely, so number six (CS106)

Caroline:  Here in the picture is the point-to-point at the prize-giving event: to pick out just a couple, is [information withheld] with the glasses on, now a verderer, he has 17 and his wife Phyllis, who is his wife and she was formerly [information withheld] wife.

CB:  Okay, number seven (CS107) Mm mm.

Caroline:  Well, I guess this was a pony being loaded up on – um – after Beaulieu Road, yes.

(CS108)

Caroline:  A picture of Beaulieu Road before – this was the old sale yard site.  As we can see the sale ring hasn’t got the roof on like you see it today.

CB:  Number nine (CS109)

Caroline:  This is Les Maton, he was a small commoner at Burley and that would have been taken on Woods Corner, Burley Drift.

CB:  Mm.

(CS110)

Caroline:  This is a picture taken of gathering ponies in on a round up and to the left of the picture is John Stride on a horse called Brusher; on the grey was – could be Laddie; he had two grey horses but I think it was probably Laddie –

CB:  With Richard on –

Caroline:  With Richard on, Richard Stride and the horse there to the right is, that was John Booth.

CB:  Okay. That’s a nice scene, isn’t it.

Caroline:  Yeah, lovely.

(CS111)

Caroline:  Now this is the rodeo at Fritham in the early eighties and the person riding is Colin Moore –

CB:  It doesn’t look like he’s going to be riding for long!

Caroline:  I will say he was always a good supporter of the rodeo and I don’t know how long he stayed on that pony.  But if we look to the side here, to the right of the pony and Colin, we’ve got Clive Maton, laid against the gate; [information withheld] with – I think it’s probably [information withheld] as a young boy.  And there’s Richard, my husband, Richard, with Philip, our youngest son.

CB:  Lovely.  Number twelve (CS112) That’s a nice scene of –

Caroline:  I think the rodeos were early eighties, I think, looking at Philip there.  I’d say it’s probably… late nineteen eighties.

CB:  Okay. Right, so number twelve is just another Drift scene.

Caroline:  Yeah, Drift scene.

CB:  Number thirteen (CS113)

Caroline:  Number thirteen is John Stride on Brusher, again, I think it’s at Wood Corner, Burley; we’ve got a lot of ponies at Burley, been driven off Mill Lawn, Burley Rocks and obviously they’re just watching them go by.

CB:  Number fourteen (CS114)

Caroline: Now this is at Sandy Ridge Pound, coming in, the fence line is the fence line for the A31 road and I should think that’s probably John Booth against the fence

CB:  On the right –

Caroline:  On the right of the picture; centre of the picture is possibly Raymond Bennett –

CB:  Yeah –

Caroline:  Possibly the person in front is [information withheld];

CB:  With the blue hat –

Caroline:  With the blue hat on.  I’m not sure if that’s perhaps [information withheld]; it might be, but I’m not absolutely certain there.

CB:  Number fifteen (CS115)

Caroline:  Now this picture is Peter Brown and he is cutting fern at the top of Bolderwood Green in the area just off of the roadside, there’s bracken and heather growing together and he was cutting the heather with a long-handled scythe. That’s probably in the late ‘eighties, early nineties.

That’s sixteen (CS116)

Caroline:  Now here we’ve got a picture of Bert Stride in his racing outfit, number 18, collecting a prize after he was in the point-to-point races.  The gentleman with the microphone is Dave Maton, David Maton, he was brother to [information withheld] and he did the commentary at the races at that time. The lady in the middle wearing glasses is Joan Wright, who was chairman of the Pony Society and a staunch supporter of all commoning activities.  The lady to the left of the picture with a scarf on is Pat Mangin, Mrs. Pat Mangin, and she again was a staunch supporter of the New Forest pony breed and she would give her time willingly; and a great, great, supporters of the cause.

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Caroline Stride Trans 1 CH12    Duration: 7:15

CB:  Number 17 (CS117)

Caroline:  This is Richard, husband Richard Stride at Bolderwood making some fencing stakes out of chestnut and that was probably in the ‘eighties.

CB:  Number eighteen (CS118)

Caroline: This is a burning, a controlled burning on the Forest and the gentlemen who are walking round with the beaters, I think one of them in the centre there is Mr. Kitcher in this – [information withheld] actually.

CB:  Okay –

Caroline:  The one to the right of the picture I think is probably [information withheld].

CB:  Number nineteen (CS119)

Caroline:  This is a Stallion Passing at Beaulieu Road, the Spring Passing.  The person leading the pony I think is possibly [information withheld], as a younger man.  Not sure who’s right in the background but centre in the foreground is Leonard Mansbridge; the person stood directly behind is [information withheld]; I’m not sure who the lady is right behind but going to the right of the picture is Eric Young with the walking stick; and the gentleman to the right of the picture is David Stagg and Eric Young and David Stagg at the time would have been verderers.

CB:  Okay.  Number twenty (CS120) So another –

Caroline:  So here’s another stallion passing at Beaulieu Road and in the foreground the person who is leading ponies is Richard Stride with – I’m not sure what stallion that was and the person stood behind slightly to the right of the picture is his brother John Stride

CB:  But leading the other ponies

Caroline: Leading the other pony, yeah –

CB:  They’ve got two stallions –

Caroline:  And the judges at the time were a mixture of the pony breeders and the verderers so the gentleman walking away with the mac on to the left of the pony was Archie Cleveland, then you have Eric Young leant on his stick to the left of Archie Cleveland; the person over the top is David Stagg –

CB:  The tall chap –

Caroline:  The tall chap with the grey hair.  Slightly to the right is a man with a mac is Leonard Mansbridge, old Leonard Mansbridge; the lady stood looking at the ponies side view on is Dionis MacNair; the other lady is Joan Wright.  I think in the distance in the background, I think it’s probably Robert, our eldest son, watching the proceedings.

CB:  Okay.  Number twenty-one (CS121)

Caroline:  This is a picture of the ponies being driven out of the enclosures, it was one of the activities that the Forestry Commission did in the ‘eighties and ‘nineties under the instruction or under the guidance of Richard my husband who was working for the Forestry Commission at the time all through his working life and he would organise round ups in the enclosures because ponies weren’t allowed in the enclosures, so there they are, mounted, in the enclosure, so to the left of the picture is Richard; next to him is [information withheld]; the other side of the gravel track going right is [information withheld]; and then the person who is stood up engaging in conversation with Bob Mansbridge is Raymond Stride, Richard’s younger brother.

CB:  Twenty-two (CS122)

Caroline: This is a picture of Richard on er, riding, and to the centre right and followed by [information withheld].  I think if we were to see this picture a bit closer, the pony is being led, but I – the foal – perhaps I’m wrong.  Erm, not sure.

CB:  Mmm. Okay.  Twenty-three (CS123)

Caroline: Now this picture was taken at the opening of the museum in Lyndhurst and they had a forge there to heat the brands up as big as a door, the stable door which is still within the New Forest Centre. All commoners were invited to brand their brand on the door, so here you see pictures, a picture of individuals.  Starting on the left of the picture is Archie Ings and stood next to him in the blue anorak jacket is Tilly Cooper; then the lady with the blonde hair, fairer hair, is [information withheld]; the lady who’s looking away [information withheld]  (?) now; not sure who the person with the back view is –

CB:  That looks like [information withheld] –

Caroline:  I would say it’s [information withheld] but – then [information withheld] in the background there

CB:  Oh, it is!

Caroline:  Then Terry Jones, the agister; the tall person, working towards the right of the picture, John Booth; he is stood directly behind Raymond Bennett; the person with the patterned jumper on I think is [information withheld]; the little boy stood there looking directly at the picture is [information withheld], John Booth’s son; the child in the arms [information withheld], again John and [information withheld]  daughter; and holding [information withheld], mum. That was when they were out – And this lady here is Terry Jones’ wife, [information withheld].

CB:  Rose, that’s right.  Okay, and that was nineteen eighty-eight.

Caroline:  Nineteen eighty-eight, yes.

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Caroline Stride Trans 1 CH13    Duration: 5:02

CB:  Er – twenty-four (CS124)

Caroline: And here you see a picture of Richard, husband Richard, branding his brand on the door; being watched, on by the left of the picture, [information withheld]; who was a photographer at that time, taking pictures; John Booth, stood up because he was such a big man; stood up there behind [information withheld]; the gentleman with the trilby there I think is Uncle Charlie, my Uncle Charlie; and he was Uncle Charlie Dovey of Culverley Farm at Beaulieu; and the gentleman here to the side is Maldwin Drummond with his hand to his face and he was a trustee and one of the former supporters of the New Forest Centre at the time.

CB:  Twenty-five (CS125)

Caroline:  This is at Minstead in our barn at Long Aldermoor at Minstead and we had at one time a saw bench there and a good friend of ours in the ‘eighties and ‘nineties was [information withheld]; and he was our sawman and miller, I suppose a sawmill, and there he’s cutting out a bit of timber and in the background is Raymond Stride and that’s Richard’s younger brother who must have been assisting him at the time.

CB:  When do you think that was taken?

Caroline:  Um – I think probably late ‘eighties.

CB:  Yeah, okay; number twenty-six (CS126)

Caroline: This is a picture of the last Ringwood Market, and the last market to be held on the site in Ringwood.  Centre to the picture I’m not sure of anyone else, but centre to the picture is Les Maton, and leant on the gate with his welly boots on.

CB:  Right, okay, thank you.  Number twenty-seven (CS127)

Caroline:  A picture of the last animals being sold at the market, at Ringwood Market.

(CS128)

And here you see a picture of [information withheld]

CB:  In the middle.

Caroline:  In the middle with the cap on, yeah, and I guess that was in the area of the dead stock being sold

CB:  Yes, okay.  Number twenty-nine (CS129)

Caroline:  This is a picture at Bolderwood, down at the cow gate and the Forestry Commission were replacing the gateway fence line in cleft chestnut rails and to the left of the picture is Peter Brown and the person with the spade, the person with the shove holders who’s digging the – just clearing the debris out of the hole is [information withheld], and they worked together in the ‘eighties and ‘nineties until Peter retired, Peter Brown retired.

CB:  Okay, so number thirty (CS130)

Caroline:  This is a picture of Beaulieu Road, the old Beaulieu Road, and in the ring you see to the left of the picture, Richard Stride, my husband, stood next to Raymond Bennett; stood next to him is [information withheld];  over Jimmy’s head is a dealer, Michael Rowe, he used to come down from Wiltshire, he lived at  Coombe Bissett and he used to buy lots of New Forest ponies; the gentleman below him was another dealer, I’m gonna call him [information withheld] l but I’m not absolutely certain; stood around in the blue jumper with his hands in his jean pockets is John Stride, Richard’s brother; following round the ring, the next person looking away is Clive Maton; the person ushering the ponies around the ring is young Lennie Mansbridge; the person on the gate is Peter Newman; 

CB:  Yeah, blimey!

Caroline:  The person above Peter Newman’s head is Raymond Stride, Richard’s younger brother; looking over the ring, over the fence line is [information withheld].

CB:  Great. So – number one

Caroline:  We’re back there!

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Caroline Stride Trans 1 CH4    Duration: 5:47

 (CS006)

Caroline:  Now this lady, I only knew her as Auntie Glad.  I don’t think there was any blood relationship with the Penny family, but she was a great friend of Richard’s nan who was Agnes Penny, Agnes Zebedee before she got married.  And she stayed very, very friendly with Agnes, Nanny Penny, all through their married life.

CB:  She’s got a hayrick behind her –

Caroline:  She has. And I think that’s great ‘cos you see the hayrick closely; over the top of the ladder you see the hay knife actually stuck in the side there.

CB:  Yeah.

Caroline: And how they used to cut the hay out. Yeah, in its day, you know, it was – it would have been a smart rick.

CB:  Did you have a thatcher within the family?

Caroline:  Grandad Penny, George Henry…  no, actually, I think it was Charlie Penny, so it was Charles Penny, he was a thatcher and his family – there were ten boys and two girls – the boys would’ve got all the hay in and made it into a rick and he was the one who did the thatching.  So he would be perched up on the top after the rick had been built and shaping it up and putting the thatch on.

CB:  Lovely.  Number seven. (CS007)

Caroline:  This is a picture up in the rick yard, I always wondered where the rick yard was here at Blackwater, but it was just part of the yard away from the entrance and as far as I know these steam threshing machines would come round, they would visit farms in the area, trundle about from one place to the other, thrashing the corn out of the corn crop and this, actually, on the picture I think I actually counted twelve people so think how labour intensive all this activity was.  But the lady in the foreground is Aunt Kate, now she was Charlie Penny’s sister and she spent a lot of time here, she didn’t get married and she was up and close to forty, or if not forty, and a lot of the pictures you will find Aunt Kate posing there somewhere.

CB:  Okay –

Caroline:  But that’s part of it, she’s a very photogenic woman, I thought; but in the background you can actually see George Henry Penny here to the side with his hat cocked off to the side and I think the chap there with his hands on his hips in the background, I think that is perhaps young Charlie Penny.

CB:  Okay –

Caroline:  I think this picture is probably in the Edwardian time, so we’re probably talking um 1910?  Roughly around that time, and, yeah, what an event it must have been; you can see some sacks of corn there kept to the side.  And so, it’s a fascinating picture.

CB:  Yeah, I’ve got a very similar picture from [3:24:4] [information redacted] and [information redacted] worked for [information redacted], and that’s –

Caroline:  Yes –

CB:  That’s what he did.

Caroline:  Yeah –

CB:  They were contractors so it’s obviously the same.

Caroline:  Yeah, but, you know, there would’ve been people like this going round down the south of the Forest or would’ve been the [3:42:2] [information redacted]. Sadly, I don’t know who this contractor is, I don’t know if anyone else would –

CB:  Okay.

Caroline: – would know that, but there you go.

CB:  Okay. Let’s have a look at the next one, number eight  (CS008)

Caroline:  Now this was Edward Penny, Ted Penny, who was the last Penny farmer here at Blackwater.  He was one of Charles Penny’s sons; as I’ve said already he had ten boys, he was one of the boys and he carried on after Charlie Penny died at the farm here at Blackwater.  This is on the milk float and he would have been delivering milk in the High Street.  This is directly behind the old, er, Workmen’s Club in Lyndhurst, in the car park.

CB:  Really –

Caroline: Before there was any development of the Car Park.  The car park just used to be a green field.

CB:  Yeah.

Caroline:  But this is the exit, this, here – behind the car.  That is the exit going out, so this building here would be where the Workmen’s Club is.

CB:  Oh, I see.

Caroline:  Yeah.  So that was in probably, I think, in the early nineteen fifties.

CB:  Okay.  Yeah, that’s lovely.

(CS009)

Caroline:  And again, this is Edward Penny – Teddy as he’s known, Ted Penny and he was again delivering milk, we think in the Custards.  You can see he’s got his arm on the churn.

CB:  Oh, it’s a big one, this time.

Caroline: A big churn, yeah. Yeah.  And the cows were – originally, they were hand-milked here at Blackwater by the dairymaids, members of the family again and then it was whoever was about to take the milk cart out and deliver milk, so anyone could’ve got roped in –

CB:  Yeah.

Caroline: – to go round with the milk float.

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Caroline Stride Trans 1 CH5    Duration: 6:17

 (CS010)

Caroline:  This was Ted Penny on a riding horse here.  Sadly, I don’t know his name, I ought to; it’s looking back towards Brent Hill which is Minstead Manor on the horizon there and all of the boys would’ve been good horsemen because they turned their animals out on the Forest.  They had the dairy cows running out from here at Blackwater; they had New Forest ponies dotted round, all round the Forest; so they had to jump on a horse whenever needs were to ride and get the cows in or round up some ponies that were needed for whatever reason, so they’re all very very adept at riding, and that’s one of Ted and he was – I’m not sure – he would have been in his twenties, early thirties there probably.

CB:  Mm Mm.  That’s lovely.  Right.  Number eleven. (CS011)

Caroline: Now this is a picture of my grandmother’s collection and her name was Kitty Snelgrove and Snelgrove, or her father Gerry Snelgrove, was Forestry Commission keeper who lived at Norley Wood in the time of the second – of the First World War, sorry, and out from Norley Wood cottage which was their home there were New Zealanders camped with er – for the First World War. And that was their camp, just out from them, so that’s all I know about the pictures but it is just, you know, it does document the involvement with the New Zealanders in the First World War.

CB:  Mmm. Okay, number twelve. (CS012)

Caroline:  This is again my grandmother’s, or granny’s collection, Granny Snelgrove’s collection, she was granny brown, actually, when she married but it was why I link back to Snelgrove is the fact it was before she was married living at Norley Wood Cottage, ‘cos he was the Forest Keeper there at the Cottage and you know, it must have been quite something for young girls, they lived there and they must’ve, you know, this must’ve been quite something for foreign, foreign soldiers to be camping sort of within a stone’s throw of the cottage.  Mm. Yeah.  So that’s good.

CB:  And number thirteen  (CS013)

Caroline:  I think this just shows a well. With the amount of all the soldiers camping there at Norley Wood and that was their water system, I guess.

CB:  Yeah.  Okay.  Number fourteen (CS014)

Caroline:  Another one again of the New Zealanders at Norley Wood in the First World War. And I don’t know if they were involved in any forestry practice. Unfortunately, my granny didn’t say very much about the pictures as such but it’s good to have it as a record of what went on there at Norley Wood.

CB:  Right, number fifteen (CS015)

Caroline:  And this is another one of their work at Norley Wood and it looks to me, you know, they’re clearing quite a large area of timber.

CB:  Why would they have done that?

Caroline:  Not sure.  Whether it went for the war effort in some way? I mean it didn’t look as though it was particularly good quality timber –

CB:  No. It’s not very straight, is it?

Caroline:  No.

CB:  No.  Okay.  Right.  Number sixteen (CS016)

Caroline:  This must be one of the officers in the New Zealand army; I recognize him from one of the previous pictures so, again, it certainly was for the Norley Wood collection.

CB:  Mmm. Okay.  Number seventeen (CS017)

Caroline:  Obviously they liked the little dogs; (Laughs) and birds as well, by the looks of things – so, yeah, fascinating.

(CS018)

Caroline:  And again –

CB:  And again with the dogs –

Caroline:  It looks like they might’ve caught something – I hope they weren’t poaching! (Both laugh)

CB:  Okay, number nineteen. (CS019)  Ah.

Caroline:  Now this one is one of the first pictures we have of the pony sale, or the Lyndhurst Fair at Swan Green.  And this is sort of how they sold ponies, probably in Edwardian times.  And the Penny family obviously featured very big in that sale or that fair.  Now that is at Swan Green, up tight against the trees as you can see, and probably it looks as though it might’ve been a hot day and they were perhaps taking a bit of shade there; and we think that was… put the turn of the century – and I can see there’s a young Charlie Penny, his brother Bill –

CB:  Hang on a sec, so Charlie Penny sort of centre –

Caroline:   With his hat on, cocked to the side, rather jauntily put, and to his left was his brother Bill.

CB:  Okay

Caroline: Yeah.  And on another one of the pictures you can see his father, but there obviously wouldn’t have been any auctioneers

CB: (Indistinct)

Caroline:  It would have been negotiating.  There’d be a bit of bartering going on.

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Caroline Stride Trans 1 CH6    Duration: 6:43

CB:  Okay.  Right. So number twenty (CS020)

Caroline:  This is another picture of the Lyndhurst Fair and you can see Grandad Penny with his boater now pushed back on the back of his head

CB:  Slightly to the left of the picture –

Caroline:  To the left of the picture

CB:  Just in front of the tree.

Caroline:  Yeah, and we think the next one holding the whip here on his shoulder, is Bill, his brother; and the gentleman with the stick is George Henry, so there’s the two boys and their father in the picture.  Now this picture, as I’ve already said, was before there were any organised auctions within the Forest. And of course all of these little Forest villages would’ve had Fairs, or a lot of them would have and certainly Lyndhurst was quite historically important within the Forest, you know, being historically the capital of the Forest, we still tend to link it with the Court and of course the Forestry Commission still think of it as being quite an important village within the Forest environment.

CB:  Yes.  So, number twenty-one (CS021)

Caroline:  Now this is Aunt Marth or Marth Penny as she would’ve been before she married an became Mrs. Baker; she was George Henry’s daughter, so it’s Charlie Penney’s sister, and as all Forest families or farming families, everyone got roped in to do the jobs.  And as a young woman as you can see from her uniform or her clothing here, she was a dairymaid and that is outside of the barn here at Blackwater Farm with her two milk pails and the milking stool in her left hand and she would have been waiting to hand milk the cows here because the cows went out to forest, they grazed on the forest grazing and they were milked twice a day and it would have been someone’s role, someone’s job to go out and round them up.  And that followed through, you know, my in-law, my mother in law, you know, she would spend her time going out and getting them when she wasn’t out at work or previous to that at school.

CB:  So when do you think this was?

Caroline:  Well again, I think this was probably before the First World War, Edwardian times; looking at her clothes really, as much as anything.

CB:  Mmm, yes.  That’s absolutely fabulous, and to think she’s in front of the same barn I’ve just parked my car near –

Caroline:  Yeah

CB:  Just brilliant.  (CS022)This is number twenty-two, this one’s got some print on the bottom, what’s that?

Caroline:  It’s a picture of Lenn Witt who I never knew myself, but he was an old forester up in the north of the Forest and he was a smallholder as I understand, a lover of New Forest ponies and he spoke a very fast dialect that was old English dialect. As I understand – sadly, I never knew him but it was in my photographic collection and I thought well you really ought to have it.

CB:  Yes, lovely.  Number twenty-three (CS023) Oh, look at that!

Caroline:  Now this picture is taken as I understand at the Fair at Lyndhurst.  And obviously this one didn’t really want to comply to the rules about walking along nicely with its handler! But again, a New Forest pony; it always fascinates me the interest that there would have been in ponies at the time, but really this was just before the motor car really started to take hold so in actual fact this would have been their only way of transport.  Again, I think this is probably late Edwardian. It absolutely amazes me you don’t see many women in these pictures, so it’s very much just a man’s world.

CB:  A man’s day out, okay.

Caroline:  Yeah.

CB:  So number twenty-four (CS024)

Caroline:  Now this is a picture of Ted Penny, on the left; and it’s outside of the Waterloo Arms here at Pike’s Hill, Lyndhurst, and the gentleman to the right of the picture is …. Kempton.  Was it Freddie Kempton?  And he was well known for his grooming ability.  He really was a wonderful groom and he worked – I think I’m saying right by – he used to work for Rachel Poultney who lived in Minstead; and he could turn out horses and ponies like no other person.  And his knowledge of remedies for a sick animal, sick pony in particular – sadly he took to the grave because he was one of those people that, you know, didn’t share his information particularly well.  But I know he would have given Ted a lot of assistance with this pony that he’s got and I think this picture was taken just after the point-to-point, the Boxing Day Point-to-Point here in the New Forest and I think he’d just won, so they’ve probably just gone in the Waterloo to

CB: Celebrate.

Caroline:  Celebrate. Yes, celebrate.

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Caroline Stride Trans 1 CH7    Duration: 7:11

CB:  Okay.  Number twenty-five (CS025)

Caroline:  Now this picture shows the Penny family,  or part of the Penny family on a pony.  The person who is stood is the eldest son to the left of the pony’s head, that was Tom; and then you have got Ted and [28.0] [information redacted] Penny on the back of the picture – on the pony, and the gentleman who is – as I understand, the gentleman who is there is Alf Cavell.

CB:  Okay, who was he?

Caroline:  He was someone who worked for the Penny Family

CB: Oh, okay.

Caroline As a casual, self-employed, I think that’s how it worked.

CB:  Right, okay.  So, number twenty-six (CS026)

Caroline:  I think this is two of the Penny boys again in the yard here at Blackwater, in front of the double doors and I think it’s Tom Penny and George Penny on, I guess, a New Forest pony.

CB:  So that’s George that’s riding –

Caroline:  George on the pony and Tom holding on to the head.

CB:  Lovely.  Right.  Twenty-seven (CS027)

Caroline:  Now this is Tom Penny outside of the house here at Blackwater, as a young man; interesting britches again, real, sort of – you know, probably the dress of the day and um – yeah.

CB:  Riding a pony.

Caroline:  Yes.

CB:  When do you think this was?

Caroline:  I would say – he was born in 1917, I think …

CB:  Nineteen twenties, early nineteen thirties –

Caroline:  Yeah.  Yeah.

CB:  Okay.  Number twenty-eight (CS028)

Caroline:  Now this is Ted Penny milking a cow at Holmsley.  It was the home to his in-laws, and the gentleman who is stood at the back is Monty Slightam who was a Forestry Commission keeper; and it was at the time as you can see, a wooden bungalow.  And Ted married [2:33] [information redacted], that’s Monty’s daughter, their only daughter and in their early married life, Ted would ride his motorbike, and you can see a motorbike in the background propped up against the bungalow, and he used to ride his motorbike Holmsley back to Blackwater to do his work here on the farm and then from Blackwater back to Holmsley of an evening.  And they had – that was the house cow that supplied the Slightam family with milk.

CB:  Lovely.

(CS029)

Caroline:  Now this is Charlie Penny in older age and this is on the path coming round by the old dairy here at Blackwater Farm and with his old dog, Floss, there in the background.

CB;  Lovely, and when do you think that was?

Caroline:  The early ‘sixties I would say?  Late ‘fifties, early ‘sixties.  He died in 1966, I think.

CB:  Okay.  Number thirty (CS030)

Caroline:  Now this is a picture of my grandfather, Bob House, and this picture was taken at Monkshorn at East Boldre; He was a smallholder come farmer on Beaulieu estate and he was a tenant farmer down there and this was taken in the…um… nineteen fifties, probably.

CB:  Okay. And he’s been busy in the shed with his fork.

Caroline:  Yeah. He never drove a car. He only used a horse in the field; it was only my father, Robert, called Bob, and his brother, Bill, Bill House who worked – first instigated getting a tractor on the land, to work the fields.  But Grandad House would only have working horses.

CB:  Mmm.  Right.  So, thirty-one (CS031)

Caroline:   Now this is kale at Blackwater Farm.  Kale was grown as a crop to feed the cows in the winter months. It would have been cut and taken to the cows because the cows would have been tied up in stalls during the winter months for periods of time when it was wet, and they had a manger and they would’ve been fed kale; always amazed me how tall it would have been, you know; it’s above this adult person’s head.  The adult in the picture is Alf Cavell, again he would come and be a seasonal worker here on the farm with Charlie and whoever else was working here.  And the two boys, I think, are probably Ted and [5:45] [information redacted], they were a twin.  And I would say that was in the ‘forties.

CB:  Right.  Number thirty-two (CS032)

Caroline: Now this is Bert, Bert Stride, and I think it was taken down at Denny Lodge where they moved in the early ‘fifties and he married Vera, Richard’s mother in nineteen forty-nine or ‘forty-eight and they moved down to Denny when they’d been married for three or four years and it was at that time that they started as a couple in smallholding in the Forest, although they had ponies here at Blackwater before they moved down there; but certainly that’s when their sort of commoning activities really took flight when they moved down there.  And Grandad always kept a good horse.

CB: Yeah, that looks a nice horse – a real shiny coat.

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Caroline Stride Trans 1 CH8    Duration: 6:00

CB:  That’s all right.  Number thirty-three (CS033)

Caroline:  This is grandad before he was married or – there on their caterpillar – or it might have been along the time they were married and I don’t think this picture was actually taken in the Forest.  I think he was ordered by the Forestry Commission at the time to move around and I think he went down to Dorset.  I think he was a caterpillar driver and he was hauling out timber as you can see.  The gentleman to the side at the front of the caterpillar, I’m sorry, I don’t know his name; I think he was a Dorset forest worker of the time so I don’t know who that was.  I suppose about the person on this caterpillar tractor was Grandad, I meant it’s Bert Stride, Albert Stride, of Denny Lodge, upholding Denny Lodge.

CB:  Okay, so number thirty-four (CS034)

Caroline:  This is a picture of Bert and Vera down at Denny Lodge, probably in the nineties, yeah, nineteen nineties, perhaps just after Grandad retired so it’s Vera and Bert Stride upholding Denny Lodge.

CB:  Lovely.  Thirty-five (CS035)

Caroline:  Again this is Bert Stride upholding Denny Lodge. He’s always since a small child has had a love for pigs and I’ve got knowledge of him being you know a pig keeper with his grand parents at Brook Bushes at Brook and that’s followed him all through his life so he’s never happier than when he’s out looking after a sow and a litter of pigs or producing, or bringing on a young store pig for bacon.  In his later life he’s been very active in his retirement and in the right month – when there’s a ‘r’ in the month, he will be smoking bacon (Laughter) So, he enjoys the whole process of producing right through to eating it off his plate.

CB:  Okay, thirty-six (CS036)

Caroline:  Now this is a picture of Bert Stride’s relations at Brook Bushes at Brook near Bramshaw and it is his gran and grandad who brought him up from quite an early age.  Sadly, Bert Stride didn’t have the best of starts because his mother died soon after he was born, and his very early life he was in foster homes in care and he had a very sad time; but his gran and grandad came to the rescue and he has always got very kind words and good word about his gran and grandad Triggs, who were his mother’s mother and father. And they looked after him like their own child right through.

CB:  So which of these ..(indistinct)

Caroline:  The gentleman who is holding the horse’s head is grandad Triggs; and the lady to the far left of the picture is Grandma Triggs.

CB:  Okay. That’s lovely.

Caroline:  And she was a Judd. 

(CS037)

Caroline:  This is a picture of our family at Bolderwood when the boys were growing up, so to the left of the picture is Robert, our other son stood by me, Caroline; and on the pony is Philip and Richard, my husband and then to the right of the picture it is Andrew. The pony was Tiger Lily and she was a wonderful pony that stayed in and around the holding a lot of the time and the boys used to spend – have many happy days riding her or messing around with her out; sort of started their love of the New Forest pony…

CB:  Was she a Rushmoor?

Caroline:  No, she wasn’t.  We bought her because somebody at Burley – There was a link with John Booth at the time, his wife [information redacted] and Mrs Kidd, her mother, were residents of Burley at the time and this pony was a young pony – Tiger Lily was a young pony who was a companion and the old pony had died and they then wanted to get rid of the companion pony, so we bought her as a two year old, she was just such a nice-natured pony – she was chestnut – just such a nice-natured pony that the children just messed about with her a lot.  She’d been handled, always looking for human company it seemed so yeah, they pottered around and…yeah

CB:  Lovely.  And when do you think this was?

Caroline:  It was probably about …. six there….so I think the early nineties.

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