A big smoke screen was erected by Screen Gems to hide his real movements during Davy’s recent visit to England.
The main reason for this was that they wanted to protect Davy’s father from any extra strain. As you know, he is pretty ill and if a huge crowd descended upon his home every time his famous son pays quick visit, it could have a very bad effect.
So, while he was supposed to be firmly ensconced in a country house in Berkshire, Davy went home.
While he was in the North he decided that it would be a good opportunity to go and see how his two horses, Chicomono and Pearl Locker, were getting on.
He had intended to make the trip on Tuesday, June 11th but he received an urgent request from Belle Vue, Manchester to have his handprints recorded in concrete for posterity. So, he didn’t set off until the Wednesday. He and David Pearl drove up in a Mini-Traveller and arrived at the stables in mid-afternoon.
His horses are trained by Basil Foster in a stables in the centre of a small village called Middleham which is situated right on the edge of the Yorkshire moors, about 15 miles west of Catterick. One of the outstanding features of the village is an old castle where Richard III lived. The young princes (you remember the ones who were murdered in the Tower of London) also spent their early years there. The stables where Davy’s horses are trained is called Glasgow House and is situated bang opposite the castle.
The first thing Davy did after saying ‘hello’ to Basil and the other people around the stable when he arrived, was to strap his saddle on Chicomono and ride him up to the moors.
When he came back, he said how marvellous it was to be on the back of a thoroughbred once again and what was even more exciting—his very own horse. He unsaddled, groomed and fed Chicomono and then fed his other horse, Pearl Locker.
Although Davy had not ridden a horse for several months, he still sat Chicomono like a professional jockey. But, afterwards when he was talking about the ride he said that a lot of his muscles ached. This is because a jockey puts a tremendous strain on muscles which you normally don’t use much. He spent a long time talking to the stable boys. As usual, his memory was fantastic, he had forgotten nothing and knew everyone’s name.
Then, everyone went into the house, sat down for a cup of tea and talked about the future.
Davy was full of plans for Chicomono who had already shown that he had tremendous promise by finishing second in a race at Thirsk. He certainly thought it wouldn’t be long before he would be leading him into the winner’s enclosure. By the time tea was over, the news that Davy was at the stables had spread and a big crowd had gathered to say ‘hello’ and get his autograph.
When he had finished signing Davy went indoors to wash and then walked up to the White Swan pub in Middleham and played darts until 10 o’clock. Then, it was time for him to set off back to Manchester as he had to catch a plane to America the following morning.
