Grand National Winners 1972. 1980. 1985.

A Memory of Letcombe Bassett.

I was a farrier in Letcombe Bassett from 1964 till 1986. We had three grand national winners;
Well To Do - 1972, Ben Nevis -1980 and Last Suspect in 1985. We all had a great time when the horses came back, the whole village turned out. We put bunting in the street and free drinks. In the evening the party kept going in the Yew Tree Inn - landlord Mr Len Abraham. Our village was filmed twice by path'e newsreel in 1948. On the film was Mr Frank Moss; are any of his family still living in the area? The village has no shop or pub but the church is stili in use. Sadly many of the old villagers have now passed away. It seems if you visit there you will always come back. I have fond memories of the village living there from 1948 to 1980. I now live in Oxford but often think on a sunny day it was nice to see the men cutting the water cress as a string of captain Tim Forsters walked by.