Anyone remember Dyrham Stables from years ago???

Jo Grace is a legend and a true horseman, I would love the knowledge he has in his little finger.
All I can say about Paula was that she was incredibly tolerant of us when we were there, my Grandad adored her and thought she was a saint for giving him some peace and quiet from a pony mad granddaughter!!!
My best friend Jackie(otherwise known as Sprat) and I (known as Russell) would spend hours there and we were always lucky enough to have our lessons with the wonderful gang of WPs Paula had on the yard. They were good times.
Please send Paula my best wishes when you see her (I had a cremello pony who ised to stay with her most holidays about 25 years ago)
 
Oh?

my mistake..i thought a few pointers came out from there on the PTP circuit locally..at Ston Easton.

Most local NH yards had a couple of Pointers in the yard...i must have got them mixed up with another yard.
 
I kept my horse(s) at Dyrham stables from 1985 to 1991 and had a key to the Park and rode in there a couple of times a week. It was a great place to ride and we were very lucky to be able to buy a key. It cost £75 a year at the time.

Carol owned the stables then and had a daughter who showjumped. Helen Gundry, an event rider, used to teach us and her teenage daughter Polly went on to become leading point to point rider.

I left to go to the Manchester area. Is anyone on here anyone I knew then?
 
cptrayes said:
I kept my horse(s) at Dyrham stables from 1985 to 1991 and had a key to the Park and rode in there a couple of times a week. It was a great place to ride and we were very lucky to be able to buy a key. It cost £75 a year at the time.

Carol owned the stables then and had a daughter who showjumped. Helen Gundry, an event rider, used to teach us and her teenage daughter Polly went on to become leading point to point rider.

I left to go to the Manchester area. Is anyone on here anyone I knew then?
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Carol rings a bell, was she there in the late 60s?
 
From where I keep mine now I'm another one like Monkeybum who can hack up to Dyrham..nice bridleway route through the fields around the edge of the park wall though horrible gates..the ones that are supposed to be better for horses! One of those horrid double ones that remind me of a cattle crush! Haven't been up there for ages though. Have never had a key for the park itself as even a few years ago it was a load of money per year to do that though quite a few from our yard did so.

Going slightly south west down into Somerset..any one on here taught to ride at Coach House Stables at Milverton and then Bradford on Tone?
 
nativeponies said:
Oh?

my mistake..i thought a few pointers came out from there on the PTP circuit locally..at Ston Easton.

Most local NH yards had a couple of Pointers in the yard...i must have got them mixed up with another yard.
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o pointers at Bathway then, about 15 when i was there. could have gone pointing after i left, Ted hit the bottle and Judy died, all very sad-
 
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I must have been riding at Dyrham from 1976-1990 or so. I remember Carole Stokes and her daughter Alex and son Ben. I think Ben was heavily into polo??

Before buying my own, I used to ride their horses: Larkin, Nimbus, Chianti, Periwinkle (who used to belong to my friend), Prism ...... oh, and although I didn't ride her, there was an ancient pony there called Velvet who only had one eye and Carole gave her to her equally ancient helper (no-one ever quite knew her actual role) called Joyce. She was a sweet old lady, yet very grumpy, especially when my pony backed into her (also ancient) Triumph Herald and the rusty bumper fell off.

I used to take jumping lessons with Helen too. They were crazy, and someone almost always fell off!

I owned a pony called Keegan who used to belong to Carole, and later a youngster called Wolf. My name is Jill if anyone remembers me???
 
MochaDun said:
From where I keep mine now I'm another one like Monkeybum who can hack up to Dyrham..nice bridleway route through the fields around the edge of the park wall though horrible gates..the ones that are supposed to be better for horses! One of those horrid double ones that remind me of a cattle crush!
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Haha I know what gate you mean!!!!
 
I think we must have been in the same jumping lessons. My logon is my name, do you know me? I can't remember a Jill with a Wolf but I have a terrible memory for names. Was he a dark bay and did he have problems with a very sensitive back under the saddle givnig him lumps??? I had a liver chestnut TB who had kidney failure, then a bay geldign who got navicular, then a big bay mare with a white face who did a suspensory, then a smaller dark bay mare who I sold, then an ill-tempered chestnut TB mare who I brought to Manchester with me.

I can't say that Joyce was EVER "sweet" to me!

Do you remember when Ned ran the yard? And there was an old guy who used to muck out. He lived in the council cottages in Dyrham village and they had outside toilets. The Council decided to give them all indoor toilets and came along and knocked down the outdoor ones. Only they had forgotten to build the indoor ones first, so no-one had a loo in the whole row! I've never stopped laughing about that one :)
 
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mytwofriends said:
I must have been riding at Dyrham from 1976-1990 or so. I remember Carole Stokes and her daughter Alex and son Ben. I think Ben was heavily into polo??

Before buying my own, I used to ride their horses: Larkin, Nimbus, Chianti, Periwinkle (who used to belong to my friend), Prism ...... oh, and although I didn't ride her, there was an ancient pony there called Velvet who only had one eye and Carole gave her to her equally ancient helper (no-one ever quite knew her actual role) called Joyce. She was a sweet old lady, yet very grumpy, especially when my pony backed into her (also ancient) Triumph Herald and the rusty bumper fell off.

I used to take jumping lessons with Helen too. They were crazy, and someone almost always fell off!

I owned a pony called Keegan who used to belong to Carole, and later a youngster called Wolf. My name is Jill if anyone remembers me???
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it must be the same Carole- i always tried toride a lovely grey horse,quite spirited but not overly big, cant remember her/his name. i always went with a Gill from Monkton Farleigh. funny old world, isnt it!
 
cptrayes said:
I think we must have been in the same jumping lessons. My logon is my name, do you know me? I can't remember a Jill with a Wolf but I have a terrible memory for names. Was he a dark bay and did he have problems with a very sensitive back under the saddle givnig him lumps??? I had a liver chestnut TB who had kidney failure, then a bay geldign who got navicular, then a big bay mare with a white face who did a suspensory, then a smaller dark bay mare who I sold, then an ill-tempered chestnut TB mare who I brought to Manchester with me.

I can't say that Joyce was EVER "sweet" to me!

Do you remember when Ned ran the yard? And there was an old guy who used to muck out. He lived in the council cottages in Dyrham village and they had outside toilets. The Council decided to give them all indoor toilets and came along and knocked down the outdoor ones. Only they had forgotten to build the indoor ones first, so no-one had a loo in the whole row! I've never stopped laughing about that one :)
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No Wolf was pale chestnut with a huge white blaze and he bucked for England, but I do remember a dark bay with the sensitive back and lumps ... for the life of me I can't remember his name. Now it's going to drive me nuts!

Can't remember you either, but that doesn't mean much. Getting my kids' names right is a challenge half the time!

I think I remember Ned and the old guy. I certainly remember the cocuncil cottages, but had no idea about the loos. That must have been ..... difficult!!

Did you ever go on any of Ralph's crazy rides on a Sunday afternoon? I can't remember his horse's name, but his wife used to come along on her palamino called Boots? He'd always take us up in the park for a good old hooly around :)

Also a chap called Mervin who used to take rides out on his huge horse whose name's gone too???
 
juliag said:
Does anybody remember mrs Ridleys riding school at Englishcombe in Bath . I bought my first pony 'Dover' from her or montpelliers in weston, bath?
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I know Montpelliers - heard lots and lots of stories about there. Its a private house now, no liveries or school.
 
I only rode at Dyrham once, it was in 1980 and about a month after I had given birth to my daughter...I'd had a strange craving to ride all through my pregnancy! I rode a horse called Ptarmigan (I think), which took off with me when we got on the grass. In my post-pregnancy state, all feeble and weak muscles, I couldn't stop. I remember being carted at great speed up a hill, seeing Wales in the distance (it was a glorious clear day in October) and thinking what a nice way to die !! Didn't die, obviously, pulled up eventually under a tree and tried to act all cool when the rest of the ride turned up. Hmmm not sure I fooled anyone though.

My daughter, when she grew up, had lessons at Widbrook, I can't for the life of me remember the name of the stables across the road from there. She went on to ride regularly at Wellow.

Rosie, your from Trowbridge?? I lived there for a while in 70's. We are in Bath now and I keep my horses near Iford. The Gill from Monkton Farleigh, did she have a sister called Diane?

My husband learned to ride at Montpeliers.
 
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I think I know Diane from monkton farleigh, is it church farm she has? I used ot keep my horse and the kids ponies there many years ago!

Mrs Ridleys riding school was down a lane behind whiteway garden centre. Ponies in fields only, no facilities she used to pull up in a mini packed with tack, there would be lots of 'helpers' waiting there and they would grab the ponies out of the field, tack up and off we would go. Fab memories. Hacking only.
When it sold up we bought Dover who I had for over 20 yrs before he was put down due to old age and heart failiure. He still lives with me only in my living room now, in an oak casket, We had him cremated (cost more to cremated him than it did to buy him...... lol).
 
gala said:
I only rode at Dyrham once, it was in 1980 and about a month after I had given birth to my daughter...I'd had a strange craving to ride all through my pregnancy! I rode a horse called Ptarmigan (I think), which took off with me when we got on the grass. In my post-pregnancy state, all feeble and weak muscles, I couldn't stop. I remember being carted at great speed up a hill, seeing Wales in the distance (it was a glorious clear day in October) and thinking what a nice way to die !! Didn't die, obviously, pulled up eventually under a tree and tried to act all cool when the rest of the ride turned up. Hmmm not sure I fooled anyone though.

My daughter, when she grew up, had lessons at Widbrook, I can't for the life of me remember the name of the stables across the road from there. She went on to ride regularly at Wellow.

Rosie, your from Trowbridge?? I lived there for a while in 70's. We are in Bath now and I keep my horses near Iford. The Gill from Monkton Farleigh, did she have a sister called Diane?

My husband learned to ride at Montpeliers.
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yes Gala, i was born in Trowbridge but lived in Steeple Ashton for 16 years then i went to Cornwall to do the BHSAI. I know Iford but it was a long time ago!Gilly from Monkton did not have a sister, she is in Bath in an office somewhere, has a husband called David.
 
nativeponies said:
Oh?

my mistake..i thought a few pointers came out from there on the PTP circuit locally..at Ston Easton.

Most local NH yards had a couple of Pointers in the yard...i must have got them mixed up with another yard.
Click to expand...

would that be Clothiers in Ston Easton-an ex of mine eventually married a groom from there. didnt Dennis Clothier die in a farm accident a few years back? Did you know Heather Chard?
 
love this thread all so local, I was brought up in bath, moved to midford now live just outside of frome. we could start a good did you know?
Personally now for lessons we have sophie Dickenson with Bath riding club , Excellent!
 
Hey

I know this thread was YEARS ago but just seen it and it jogged sso many memories! I used to ride at Dyrham stables in the 1990s when it was in Hinton. We used to go on rides in the park with Carol Stokes but her daughter Alex ran the yard. I used to ride Larkin, Kipper, and Misty - all of whom had come from the park days. Then I had my own horse Stimpy and kept him at Dyrham stables for a while and had a park key. We used to have lessons from Helen Gundry and also from carol again. Years later I also kept my horse (still Stimpy) at Diane's livery stables in Monkton Farleigh so I remember that one too. I remember thhe old guy who lived at the council houses in Hinton but I cant remember his name, he always used to walk Dexter the 3 legged dog.

I also remember the pony Whitewash (previously called Misty Lea) I think he came from the park too - anyone remember him?
 
I think we must have known each other because I was riding there at the same time. Periwinkle belonged to Alex. Chianti belonged to Susie. Does anyone remember Dagmar?
 
I totally remember you and Stimpy! I rode whitewash and then bough Squiggle (I was about 12 and was there all the time!) Alex and mark used to try to throw me on the muck heap most days! I then had a horse Honey and did lots of show jumping and cross country. I'm just looking at getting back into riding and hoping to find someone looking for a helping hand at the yard in return for a few lessons to get me back into it!
 
Hi all, I live in Hinton currently, and used to have a horse in Doynton until a few months ago.

You can still ride around Dyrham park, although the keys are a bit expensive and the gate is a PITA to unlock as you have to dismount etc. Lovely to ride around there, although to be honest there are lots of bridleways around so I don't think you really need too. The roads however, whilst quiet at most times are used as a bit of a rat run to get to/from the M4 at rush hour so avoid like the plague then.

The stables are now 'Ford farm' which is Alice Peternell's base. Nice yard but rubbish turnout.

I am good friends with the landlord at the pub in Hinton (The Bull) he is thinking of putting some tie-rings outside so that people with horses can stop and use the beer garden (its huge).
 
Wow, I started this thread 5 years ago! Great it's been unearthed!

I went to school with Alex (Periwinkle). I remember Dagmar too. I'm only in Bristol now, so not too far away. Would love to go for a nostalgic ride round Dyrham Park again. It used to seem huge, and the gallops would go on forever!

Before I owned Keegan (bag of bones but one heck of a fun pony to ride) and Wolf, I remember riding Larkin, Nimbus, Chianti, Bluey (who bucked me off), Topaz, Prism, Lord (no hair on his tail), Misty and Pinky. I was bitten on the thigh by Oliver and my husband (then boyfriend) had to defend himself by rolling a blue barrel at Kipper when he was advancing on him at speed while we were turning Keegan out!

I also remember Velvet with one eye, who belonged to Joyce!

Happy days :-)
 
Hi - only just found this lovely thread yesterday while looking for something unrelated. We used to help Carole with the rides on Saturday afternoon & my husband is the Ralph mentioned in connection with the 'mad' rides in the park. As mentioned my horse was the palamino called Boots. We had some amazing fun then - just the thing to blow away a week at work!
I remember you Jill and your friend Kay. We once went on a sponsored ride together from Spye Park and round the top of Roundway at Devizes. I remember it was meant to be 15 miles but much more like 20. We were exhausted but all 3 horses still pulling like trains!!!!
It would be great to hear from anyone who joined us all then.
 
Twink said:
Hi - only just found this lovely thread yesterday while looking for something unrelated. We used to help Carole with the rides on Saturday afternoon & my husband is the Ralph mentioned in connection with the 'mad' rides in the park. As mentioned my horse was the palamino called Boots. We had some amazing fun then - just the thing to blow away a week at work!
I remember you Jill and your friend Kay. We once went on a sponsored ride together from Spye Park and round the top of Roundway at Devizes. I remember it was meant to be 15 miles but much more like 20. We were exhausted but all 3 horses still pulling like trains!!!!
It would be great to hear from anyone who joined us all then.
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How great that you found the thread, and how great that it has been unearthed once again! Can't believe it was 5+ years ago I started it!!

I honestly don't think I'd have the nerve to do one of those "Ralph rides" any more! They were exhilarating and definitely the highlight of the week. Little bony Keegan used to leap his way around the park (do you remember him?) and return home still full of beans. Kay's pony was little grey Thomas! Boots was beautiful, and I remember Ralph's huge (liver chestnut?) fellow, but not his name.

Wouldn't it be awesome if anyone else on here remembers those rides too?

Very sadly, Kay passed away in 2010 at age 45. She and I used to virtually live at Dyrham Stables. Certainly a very happy time!
 
rosie fronfelen said:
my riding school was at Sally Bell's at Trowle Common,in Trowbridge- dare i say it, in 1958!!!!! Bloody good instructor though.
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My grandparents lived on Cockhill and I used to see lots of horses in the fields of Trowle Common as I went by on the bus when I was visiting them. Do you remember the donkeys at the farm on the left as you continued down towards Trowbridge. A roundabout went in just below there a good few years ago when they built a big housing estate in the lovely open fields behind my grandparents' house.
 
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