Ragged Appleshaw, Hampshire

The Salisbury Plain

 I have spent the last fortnight in Ragged Appleshaw with Cliff Barnes, vice president of the British Farriers' and Blacksmiths' Association (BFBA, formerly known as NAFBAE).  The first week was a busy one, as it was leading up to Newbury Show and Cliff helps run this contest along with Chris Linsser, another local farrier.  The catch was, Cliff was also competing for the first time in twenty years, so we spent a lot of time in the forge.  The sudden urge to compete is because Cliff is taking his AWCF exam in January and wants to practice shoeing under pressure.  He started a course through the BFBA to help farriers prepare for there Associate Exams.  It meets once a month for a year at Stoneleigh and all of the participants get to spend half a day forging and half a day doing theory and have homework in between courses.  There have been so many participants in this first round, about twenty I think, that the Worshipful Company have sent them their own exam test date!  As I got dropped off to meet Cliff at the class, I also got to spend the day forging, and Mark, the head instructor, had a number of really helpful pointers for me.

AWCF prep course at the Forge at Stoneleigh.  There was a good deal of cursing going on as everyone was trying to make and fit an Aluminium shoe to a cadaver leg in 25 minutes.  I think that some of the guys had never worked with "ally" before and they were on a very steep learning curve.

Newbury Show

Shoes and shoe making aside, this part of England is the quintessentially cute and quaint countryside that I think most of us Americans have associated with the country, and Cliff has taken a good deal of time to show it off to me.  Ragged Appleshaw is located between Salisbury and Winchester, right by Andover in the Test Valley. The Salisbury Plain (see picture above), which is also right by here, is home to the famous chalk horses, and other drawings, as well as a number of military bases and Stonehenge.  Chalk and Flint are the main two rocks here, the former making for great tourist attractions and very hard water while the later makes a great building material and can be the cause of serious hoof punctures.

An house built out of Flint.  This one is particularly sharp and prickly and the only other building I've seen all in Flint was a church made of dressed flint.

The Kennels.  This had been part of an estate, but has been broken off into a separate yard.  It is a lovely example of the brick and flint buildings in this area.  The "mushrooms" along the edge of the road are Staddle Stones, originally used for elevating granaries, but mostly used as decoration now.

The other style of building in the area.  It is invisible in this picture, but the thatch is covered in chicken wire.  This prevents the birds from robbing it for nests and also keeps vermin from getting in.  A thatch roof lasts twenty or so years.

The Barn that goes with the house above is also very cute.  Stall doors are around the other side.

Staddle Stones still supporting an old granary.  The domed stones on top are curved on both sides so that vermin cannot climb up around them to get in.

An huge old, wooden barn with a tiled roof.  Note how the ridge drops towards the gable end, this is a typical style for the area, although I can't remember what its called.  The large barn doors are also characteristic of barns down here, but are an add-on to allow steam engines access to the barns, previous doors having been too small.  Cliff Barnes is also pictured.

Watercress is a local crop.  It is grown on heavily irrigated pea-gravel and has to be harvested by hand.

My mug shot to get me into Larkhill Camp.  There is an "equitation center" on the military base where we had to go and shoe a boarded horse.  Luckily Cliff phoned ahead to say we were coming because the lady at the gate was on rather a power trip and really didn't want to let anyone in.

Larkhill stables.  It is quite a facility, complete with indoor and cross country course.  Cliff's wife will be going there for a dressage show this weekend.

We did manage to find a Unicorn.