The pioneering professional
Swinner HEILA WILLCOX was not the first female winner-that was Margaret Hough in 1954 but she was ahead of her time in her rigid methodology (which still holds good today) and professional attitude to what was then an amateur sport; she certainly gave no quarter to rivals. In 1959, she beat David Somerset (later the 11th Duke of Beaufort and Badminton's host), who worked full time as an art dealer. This was despite his children, including the present Duke, jumping up and down beside the showjumping ring excitedly yelling at her: 'Go on, knock one down!' Willcox's hat-trick of wins (1957-59) remains a record, so difficult is it to produce a horse for this famously challenging competition, let alone win it. However, she had a tetchy relationship with team selectors and was forever resentful of missing out on an Olympic place. Women eventers were barred from the Games until 1964 and there was a view among some of the hierarchy that they were more likely to burst into tears if they fell off, although a less likely cry-baby than Willcox would be hard to find.
A stroll in the park
ANNELI DRUMMOND-HAY'S facile victory on Merely-a-Monarch in 1962-she won by 42 points-is still considered the blueprint for an equestrian sport that tests the all-round partnership of horse and rider. The COUNTRY LIFE reporter, Phyllis Hinton, wrote that they looked 'as if they owned the world' and Drummond-Hay later admitted that it felt like pothunting.
Denne historien er fra May 08, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra May 08, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Give it some stick
Galloping through the imagination, competitive hobby-horsing is a gymnastic sport on the rise in Britain, discovers Sybilla Hart
Paper escapes
Steven King selects his best travel books of 2024
For love, not money
This year may have marked the end of brag-art’, bought merely to show off one’s wealth. It’s time for a return to looking for connoisseurship, beauty and taste
Mary I: more bruised than bloody
Cast as a sanguinary tyrant, our first Queen Regnant may not deserve her brutal reputation, believes Geoffrey Munn
A love supreme
Art brought together 19th-century Norwich couple Joseph and Emily Stannard, who shared a passion for painting, but their destiny would be dramatically different
Private views
One of the best ways-often the only way-to visit the finest privately owned gardens in the country is by joining an exclusive tour. Non Morris does exactly that
Shhhhhh...
THERE is great delight to be had poring over the front pages of COUNTRY LIFE each week, dreaming of what life would be like in a Scottish castle (so reasonably priced, but do bear in mind the midges) or a townhouse in London’s Eaton Square (worth a king’s ransom, but, oh dear, the traffic) or perhaps that cottage in the Cotswolds (if you don’t mind standing next to Hollywood A-listers in the queue at Daylesford). The estate agent’s particulars will give you details of acreage, proximity to schools and railway stations, but never—no, never—an indication of noise levels.
Mission impossible
Rubble and ruin were all that remained of the early-19th-century Villa Frere and its gardens, planted by the English diplomat John Hookham Frere, until a group of dedicated volunteers came to its rescue. Josephine Tyndale-Biscoe tells the story
When a perfect storm hits
Weather, wars, elections and financial uncertainty all conspired against high-end house sales this year, but there were still some spectacular deals
Give the dog a bone
Man's best friend still needs to eat like its Lupus forebears, believes Jonathan Self, when it's not guarding food, greeting us or destroying our upholstery, of course
