PIT PONIES AT BESTWOOD
The Peter the Pit Pony & the associated story is a work of fiction based on some of the real ponies that worked at Bestwood.
They were looked after by Jimmy Wood, who was the Head Ostler. An ostler is a man employed to look after the ponies. They were kept in the stables in No 1 pit bottom. Mares were not used in mining. All ponies were gelded.
Other Ostler's we know about were:
Bert Corbett from Hucknall
Nico who kept a cat in the stables to catch the mice which came in with the pony feed in the "Chop" tub
Some ponies that worked at Bestwood over the years are listed below. Thanks to Keith Stone, Bob Gow, Roger Parrish and others for their help in compiling the list:
They were looked after by Jimmy Wood, who was the Head Ostler. An ostler is a man employed to look after the ponies. They were kept in the stables in No 1 pit bottom. Mares were not used in mining. All ponies were gelded.
Other Ostler's we know about were:
Bert Corbett from Hucknall
Nico who kept a cat in the stables to catch the mice which came in with the pony feed in the "Chop" tub
Some ponies that worked at Bestwood over the years are listed below. Thanks to Keith Stone, Bob Gow, Roger Parrish and others for their help in compiling the list:
A working pony underground
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1. “Rex”was a pony with royal connections. In 1954 he went to the Royal Horse of the Year Show at Windsor Castle and met the Queen during her inspection of the mining section.
2. “Colonel” who was retired around 1959. He was a Clydesdale horse. 3. “Ben” was a placid little white pony and his job was on the training gallery where the young 15 year old recruits were instructed on how to "tackle up" and handle a pony. 4. “Jet” was, as his name suggests, black all over and worked in the Main Bright seam. 5. “Steve” was a beautiful chestnut with 4 white socks and a white blaze. He stood 14-15 hands tall and worked on 21s high main district with his miner friend, Lennie. He took over from “Rex” as number 1 pony in the 1960s. See his photo here. |
6. "Carlo" was a brown pony with large white star on his forehead who stood about 14 hands high. He worked in main Bright with "Jet".
7. "Leon" was a smallish chestnut pony.
8. "Joe" was a bit of grumpy so & so and was sometimes known to nip.
9. "Duke" was a biggish brown pony.
10. "Pat" was a grey pony.
11."Ken" was a brown pony about 14 hands high. He worked on 26S district in the High Main seam with his miner friend, Roger Parrish. Roger had to clean Ken's teeth for him after he had his food from his nose bag, because he had a hole in his gum and the food got stuck in it. Roger had to wash it out with his own drinking water so that Ken didn't get toothache or an upset stomach.
12. "Oxo", as his name suggests, was brown all over in varying shades just like an oxo cube. He moved to Gedling Colliery when Bestwood closed and retired from there after an accident. He was adopted by school teacher Mrs. Elaine Bryan of Sutton in Ashfield. He was very successful with Mrs. Bryan in the show ring and even went to the Horse of the Year Show at Wembley. He was well thought of and one of the Queen's postillion / grooms travelled up from London to help prepare him for a local show at Moorgreen. There is a permanent display at the National Coal-mining Museum for England showing his awards and ribbons. Lots of photos appeared in the local press and one coloured photo of him is contained in the NCME pamphlet on pit ponies and is reproduced below.
7. "Leon" was a smallish chestnut pony.
8. "Joe" was a bit of grumpy so & so and was sometimes known to nip.
9. "Duke" was a biggish brown pony.
10. "Pat" was a grey pony.
11."Ken" was a brown pony about 14 hands high. He worked on 26S district in the High Main seam with his miner friend, Roger Parrish. Roger had to clean Ken's teeth for him after he had his food from his nose bag, because he had a hole in his gum and the food got stuck in it. Roger had to wash it out with his own drinking water so that Ken didn't get toothache or an upset stomach.
12. "Oxo", as his name suggests, was brown all over in varying shades just like an oxo cube. He moved to Gedling Colliery when Bestwood closed and retired from there after an accident. He was adopted by school teacher Mrs. Elaine Bryan of Sutton in Ashfield. He was very successful with Mrs. Bryan in the show ring and even went to the Horse of the Year Show at Wembley. He was well thought of and one of the Queen's postillion / grooms travelled up from London to help prepare him for a local show at Moorgreen. There is a permanent display at the National Coal-mining Museum for England showing his awards and ribbons. Lots of photos appeared in the local press and one coloured photo of him is contained in the NCME pamphlet on pit ponies and is reproduced below.
8. "Dandy" was transferred from Wollaton Colliery when it closed on 6th March 1961. He was 15 hands high & dark brown with two white socks on his right side. He worked on the training gallery and moved with the training branch when they relocated to Hucknall No 1 Pit. He too was a regular show pony. See images of him below.
9. "Pinky" and "Perky" were the last two ponies bought by the NCB for Bestwood Colliery. They were small creamy coloured ponies.
