Harthills Riding School.

Hello Christine,

The riding school (back in the late 1960's) was called Mount Farm, I think. I remember Mr Harthill & his daughter Valerie. They, and their employees, were very tolerant of many local, young horse mad kids turning up there on a regular basis. Pub on the corner was The Old Staggs head. You could then proceed down Pennwood Lane to the Barley Mow.

I used to go to Harthills Riding School in the early sixties, it was owned by Fred Harthill who had a son called Stephen. When I was going there we used to muck out the stables for free rides, after you had been there for some time and you were "proficient" you could take out the rides. He had a huge indoor riding area and he bought over a dressage teacher who was actually a Baron from Ireland called Lord Joseph pronounced Joseef. Lord Joseef used to have champagne sent over from France, small bottles each one wrapped on straw. We used to go to the pub next door and I remember when they had a darts competition on we used to get cheese and onion rolls which were beautiful. Great memories.

I rode my first horse at Harthills Nelson because the had one eye went too school with Stephen and Robert and Hazel penn secretary back in the early sixty . I went on to try to become a jockey at Newmarket did not make it but rode out with Lester piggott on the downs at Newmarket horse at the time was passenger at pat Moore racing stable ended up being a bus driver in Dorset and the west Midlands now retired lived in Swan back the big white house on the corner