CHAPTER 12 -1878 -FRANK CLEPHAM     WALKER’S FUNERAL

Act III. scene 3

Date, April 6, 1878

Place: Marwood Pub, The Tything, fairly near Worcester Race Course, Pitchcroft

Those present:

Charley Cox and Lindsay Hall, sitting on stools at the bar, with pints of ale in front of them. The bartender puts new pints in front of them after about five minutes.

Charley: Cheer, Lindsay. I am so very sorry for Charles, and yet I am glad to be here, to get in on this chance that I never thought I would have. Nice place here. I think it used to be a brewery. It dates back to Jacobean times.

Lindsay: (clinking glasses) Cheers. I wouldn’t want Charles to know we are here. But we expressed our shared grief with him yesterday at the funeral. He really was a stricken man. His only son, and only seventeen years old. I don’t suppose there is any chance of another son for him at this stage.

Charley: Mary must be in her mid to late 40s and Charles is 10 years older. I think he gave up on having another son when he gave his last daughter the feminised version of his own name - Charlotte Simpson.

Lindsay: It was a good turnout for the funeral. I think Charles is a popular and respected figure in Worcester. And quite a few relatives and friends from Liverpool and York managed to get down for it too. It was good to see that he had all that support.
 
Charley: Changing the subject, have you decided which horse to go with today?

Lindsay: I don’t even care if I win, although I must admit I could do with making up for some of my bad luck last year. But Pitchcroft is such a wonderful venue, nestling on the banks of the River Severn, with its picturesque tree-lined track just five minutes walk from here - not like getting to Aintree from Liverpool. (Looking at an advertising sheet) I see they describe this as a flat left-hand oval with long straights and easy turns. Pitchcroft has 20 fixtures a year, and yet this is the first time I have been here.

Charley: I have come a few times when I have been down visiting with Charles. He knows all about its history, of course, like he knows all about everything, and will tell you if you want to know or not. Anyway, because of him I know that it is the oldest racecourse in Britain, with fixtures since 1718. And it's not the only betting opportunity here either. Charles says that organised rowing races here for the last hundred years or so.

Lindsay: My information says that Newmarket Racecourse is older. I think I heard that it was started by Charles II in 1665. But I have also heard that the Grand National is the oldest.

Charley: We can’t compete with either of those previous dates. Although the first 'Official Grand National' was in 1839 the race was first run three years earlier in 1836. However the story starts sooner than that. In the mid 1820's William Lynn of the Waterloo Hotel in Liverpool was not just an innkeeper but also a entrepreneur. He sponsored a hare coursing event called the Waterloo Cup. The success of this and also the interest being shown in the flat racing being held in Merseyside gave him the idea of leasing some land in the area at Aintree and holding race meetings. With his usual energy Mr. Lynn had his plans soon underway and Lord Molyneux laid the foundation stone for the grandstand on July 7th 1829. Racing began at Aintree on the 7th of July the same year.

Lindsay: Chester racecourse also claims to be the oldest. I have had many a fine afternoon there.

Charley: Who would you say was the best jockey of all?

Lindsay: Well, I certainly would put my money on Fred Archer. Intelligent and ambitious, he is a natural horseman who understands tactics too. He is simply the best all-round jockey that the Turf has ever seen, and he is still only 24. He was apprenticed to the trainer Mathew Dawson as an 11 year old boy. His first important win was in the 1872 Cesarewitch, and his first Classic in the 1874 2000 Guineas, after which he became Lord Falmouth's retained jockey.

Charley: He has problems with his size. He’s tall for a jockey - 5’10” and when he rides he tries to keep is weight around 8 stone 6 lbs. That means he has to have a strong daily purgative, and sweats. I know he’s rich, and yet I get the impression, for all that, he is not a happy man.

Lindsay: What was the biggest win you ever had?

Charley: I had a lot of winners in 79. I backed Charlbert for the 2000 Guineas, Wheel of Fortune for the 1000 Guineas, and also for the Oaks. Recently I have been backing Dutch Oven, but he hasn’t quite done what I know he is capable of. But there is still time.  How about you?

Lindsay: I backed Bend Or last year at the Derby, and won with good odds. And Iroquois is the one I am banking on this year. I am prepared to put my bank book on him. He is magic.

Charley: I might take you up on that and back him for the St. Leger.

Lindsay: So who should we go with today?

Charley: I like the look of Woodbrook, with Henry Line riding.

Lindsay: He’s from Mr. Tommy Beasley’s stables, isn’t he? He had good luck last year with Empress, using the same jockey. But the odds I hear are 11/2 and that is not enough to tempt me. I need to win big. Talking of winning big, did you put a bet on the England and Wales rugby match in February?

Charley: No, but it sounded quite a game with the Princess of Wales providing the changing rooms and post-match facilities for the game, which was played on Richardson's Field. Both rugby sides warmed their hamstrings by the coal fires and trotted the half-mile there together. 

Lindsay: It was noted by some observers that not all the Wales team appeared to be entirely sober and had, perhaps, overdone the 'Dutch courage' in the pub's warm saloon bar. Certainly a brief examination of the pre-match team picture shows a number of rather glazed, or giggly, Welshmen.

Charley: It was Wales' first international - England started 10 years ago - and the visitors were thrashed. England crossed for 13 tries and were denied a further score when an audacious long, try-scoring pass by captain and wing Lennard Stokes to Robert Hunt was considered "not football". Give me racing any day.

Lindsay: Well, just time for one more drink and then we’d better get moving and get our bets laid. Cheers. (clinking glasses again)

Charley: Cheers - here's to Charles having another son, and to all our horses romping home.

Curtain down.