There were several ponds in the villages
for the horses to drink from (in fact, there are 20 on the
Tithe map of 1847). Lilian Smither describes it thus:-
“My father’s horses also drank at the pond; they were usually brought to the waters edge with a halter around their necks and were not allowed to walk far into the pond for fear they might get stuck in the mud , whereas the cows took pot-luck and came to no harm.”The picture shows Lilian’s father, George Westbrook, at Sylvesters pond. |