| Notes |
- Arthur John Bowditch
A Country Gentleman
Arthur was born at Hazel Farm, Melbury Sampford, on 28th August, 1920, the youngest of thirteen children born to Herbert and Judith Bowditch, Herbert being the Shepherd to the lichester Estate at that time. The family moved to Evershot and Arthur started school when he was thee years old. The school Master had called on the family to discuss the youngest but one starting school and seeing Arthur said that he might just as well start at the same time.
His earliest memory was from when he was about thee and his mother took all the children down to Holywell to see sheep that had been sold at Dorchester Sheep Fair. numbering around 3.000, being driven by a lone drover with about eight dogs down over Horchester. They were driven through to Bridgwater, staying at prearranged layerages overnight and gradually delivered to various farms on the way. He would tell of nights spent in the shepherd’s hut with his father when he was a boy when the sheep where lambing. It was rather draughty and he remembers his mother painstakingly folding newspaper to fill the gaps in the timber. He always loved animals, especially horses. I-us love of horses invariably made him late for school because if he heard them coming down the road he always waited to see them go by, whether the bell for school had rung or not! Arthur did not enjoy school, except for playing sports like football and cricket on which he was very keen.
When Arthur was growing up, Evershot had a resident policeman and if he caught you up to no good you would receive a clip around the ear, If Arthur was on the one on the receiving end he learnt not to mention it at home as he’d got another one from his father! One of his favourite tricks was to put frogs and toads through the letter box of 12 Fore Street and hear them flip-flopping down the passage way, and hear the screams of the female residents startled at seeing them! He also sang in the church choir twice on Sundays. When his mother enquired what he thought he might do when he left school Arthur replied “I don’t know but something where I have to work on Sundays!” And that is just what he did!
He started work in September 1934 at Summer Lodge. then home to Lord & Lady Stavordale. He
worked under the auspices of the Stud Groom, Colin Ball, a very particular man when it came to horses. It was a year before Arthur was allowed to even sit on a horse and then only to gently walk out the old hunters that had been used for hunting the previous day, just to stretch their legs. At that time the family kept both riding horses and a few brood mares form which they bred racehorses. The youngsters were always handled eiy well and Arthur walked many miles around the local villages long reining the two year olds that were being broken in. When it came to them being backed, a dummy rider made of straw and hessian, with arms on springs to replicate the feel of the rider’s hands, was attached to the saddle. When the two year olds that were going racing were ready to go to training stables in Newmarket, they were taken on the train from the station at Holywell: the grooms would go too. When they got to Newmarket they had a walk of two to three miles to their allotted stables and they usually arrived very late at night. The grooms at these stables would always hope that they would get one of the Ilchester horses to look after as they knew that they had been well broken and were well behaved.
At that time horses were hacked many miles to hunt meets and local shows. Arthur would tell of horses being hacked to Canard’s Grave near Shepton Mallet, where they were hunted all day and were then hacked back to Melbury, riding through the park as the clock struck midnight. and the horses still had to be attended to and the tack cleaned once they arrived home. They had covered about 80 miles that day. They would also show horses locally and at county level, They had one particularly nice young black horse that would always show like a fresh horse, being placed further down the line than he should due to his skittish behaviour in the show ring. Arthur hacked him to Melplash show one day, which still wasn’t enough to subdue him. He walked out at a steady pace on the way home but once he got back as far as Toiler Down and knew he was heading home he jigged jogged all the way back just as fresh!
When war broke out Arthur travelled to London to join the Household Cavalry. His army career was short-lived as he failed his medical due to a heart murmur!! He came back to Dorset and was a member of the mounted division of the Home Guard throughout the war.
In 1940 Arthur married Dorothy (Peggy) Warr from Lewcombe, after meeting four years before at his sister’s wedding when the reception was held at Lewcombe Manor where Peggy was in service- He noticed her peeping at the wedding party through a door that was slightly ajar- They lived at Lewcombe Lodge when (hey were first married and then at Manor Farm Cottages, where they had their two sons, Philip and Graham, They moved to Back Lane in Evershot in 1948.
After leaving the estate Arthur worked for Trevor Banbury at Wood Farm, East Chelborough, then for the council, on the roads driving a horse and cart, and for Bristow’s the Livestock & General Hauliers at Yetminster. Later he worked for Legg’s Livestock Haulage at Evershot, based at Ladymead Farm. Over the years he travelled many miles with animals, but he particularly loved any trips involving horses and when the Estate needed a lorry to transport horses to agricultural shows around the country, Cohn Ball would always ask for Arthur as he would help with the horses being shown.
He eventually started his own Livestock Haulage business in the early 70s when Legg’s sold their business. He would tell fascinating stories of the many animals he moved, of the cattle sold in Veovil Market being taken down through the town and put in the livestock wagons on the train at Pen Mill station. Of the horses taken to point to points some by ferry to the Isle of Wight, and the one’s that got away! He look a horse to Larkhill Point to Point one day, and during the race the jockey and the horse parted company and the horse kept on going. It was eventually caught 14 miles away by a farmer who happened to come out of his house and heard the horse coming down the road; it was very dark by this time, He contacted the Army at Larkhill where Arthur was still waiting to take the escapee home, He eventually got home after midnight.
For many years he took out hounds and second horses for the Cattistock Hunt, which he particularly enjoyed, and always seemed to know where hounds had run so as to be in the right place for horses to be changed. He was always so patient with any animal no matter how “difficult”, and they always responded to his quiet way. He had tremendous knowledge of livestock, the countryside and of nature, and always seemed to notice the things that other had not seen,
The war also interrupted Arthur's cricketing career. He was always a very keen sportsman and excelled at cricket being both a good bowler and batsman playing for Evershot, Frampton, Beaminster and Compton House. He had been due to trial at Gloucester when the war was declared and the opportunity was gone. Peggy would usually go along to the cricket matches, doing the scoring and helping with the teas. In later years, lie took up golf playing off a handicap of 4 at his peak.
When he retired, he and Peggy would be found tending their garden together, laying hedges around the fields and sawing wood for the fire. He was also able to ride again for the first time in years when he bought his beloved Trigger, a wonderful cob that he could ride out with his grandchildren. This became a necessity when his four year old grandson, Timothy, wanted to keep up one day when attending the pony club meets. Both pony and rider wanted to go faster than Mum and Dad could run! He was especially proud of the fact that it was he who had sat a granddaughter, who for a long time seemed to have no desire to have anything to do with animals, on Rupert, a dear Welsh pony. He had been left to baby sit a sleeping Leanne who was nineteen months old, at the Agi Sports at ToIler while (he rest of the family had gone to watch the horse and hound competition in the main ring. She woke up and seeing Rupert tied to the lorry said “Granddad, Rupie sit”. He was delighted to have Leanne sitting on that pony when we all returned! He enjoyed riding out with them around the district, telling stories as he went, about the old familiar places they passed and meeting old friends along the way.
He was very proud of all his grandchildren, Tracey, Timothy, Paul, Leanne and Benjamin and his great grand children Tristan and Acacia, enjoying time spent with them, their interests and achievements.
He was heartbroken when he lost his dear wife Peggy in December 2005 and we take comfort in the fact that they are both together again.
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Jane Taubman's Family Home
1920 - 2006 (86 years)
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