Another Haydock Park inspired drawing. I worked there over two summer holidays from college as I recall. It was in some ways more of an education than college where I mixed with people who were all about my age, and with limited life experiences. At the racecourse I was with ground staff who’d worked there for years. One man was the speciality jumps builder ( I was the speciality litter picker trying to peel torn up tiny betting slips super glued to the tarmac without mistaking the pieces for bird lime ) We collected wood for the jumps from Lord … Continue reading Stable Pair

When I worked at Haydock Park, there were no mobile phones. This I’m sure has changed though it’s many years since I have been at a racecourse, even though Cheltenham is just down the road. The bookmakers on course used tic tac men or were adept at the secret sign language themselves.There is one glaring inaccuracy in this rough drawing and that is the tic tac man looks cheerful and my more current memory is that bookmakers rarely looked cheerful, it made them look as if they were winning. Bad for business. The Race Days at the course were generally … Continue reading On course betting

A few drawings unearthed in recent days, when I thought of doing a series on horse racing. I have some limited experience in the field having worked at Haydock Park when I was 16, where my duties included cutting birch trees on Lord Derby’s estate a few miles away which were then transported down the East Lancs Road on a trailer pulled by a tractor, with me on the top of the load with a red flag! Picking litter after a race day and cursing the losers who tore up their betting slips and littered the grandstands, and ‘treading in’ … Continue reading Racing certainty

I’ve probably posted this before, but who cares. I bet I’m not the only one who tells a favourite story more than once, my best friends let me do it, then I get to the end and I look at them and they give me that look that tells me I’ve told it before. A sort of kindly smiling look, that is giving the impression that I’m losing my marbles, but they understand. My good friend Andy and I finished a children’s book and put it out there for sale about two weeks ago. We did not print a lot: … Continue reading Sammy the Salesman