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Post by victoria on Jul 2, 2014 18:01:51 GMT 1
Hi Everyone! I'm new here, I found this forum while searching for a clue as to the title of a book I used to read as a child. It seems to be the place to come for some help! The central character is a girl of about 14 I think, who lives with her family in London, and the only contact she has with horses is when they take their summer holiday in Dartmoor, where they stay in a cottage adjacent to a farm where there are horses to ride. They set off from London for their holiday in (I think) a Sunbeam Talbot (could be wrong there, but for some reason it seems right!), but her father is delayed in 'a Board meeting' and follows later, I think. I recall a couple of lines from the opening chapters: the main character and her girlfriends spend their time in London walking the streets 'arm in arm, giggling ...', and another (not sure of the exact words) on her first morning at the cottage she gets up very early and walks across the field to the farm to collect milk, and her 'plimsoles' are damp with the dew. On one ride out on Dartmoor they get caught in a massive thunderstorm, and it's all quite scary! I'm afraid that's all I can remember. Hope this rings a bell with someone! Victoria
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Post by susanb on Jul 2, 2014 18:11:04 GMT 1
The book doesn't ring any bells for me, but Claire has a section on her site that lists pony books by location. area.ponymadbooklovers.co.uk/These are the ones listed as being in Dartmoor...probably not comprehensive (I notice there aren't any Vian Smith books on it), but a place to start. You can take a look at cover art and plots of these, and other books, on her book and author section, link below: www.ponymadbooklovers.co.uk/page2.htmlDartmoor: Allen Chaffee - Wandy the Wild Pony, Wandy Wins! Jenny Dale - Willow the Wild Pony Joan Dickins - Jill and Prince the Pony G. D. Griffiths - Silver Blue Jean Kinnaird - Finding Our Stirrups Pamela Macgregor Morris - Not Such a Bad Summer M. M. Oliver - Land of Ponies Marjorie E. Proctor - The Pony Trackers, The Treasure Riders David Rook - The White Colt aka Run Wild Run Free Allen W. Seaby - Dinah the Dartmoor Vian Smith - Martin Rides the Moor, Green Heart, Pride of the Moor, etc Elizabeth Sprigge - Two Lost on Dartmoor Mary Treadgold - The Rum Day of the Vanishing Pony
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Post by Claire on Jul 2, 2014 22:50:40 GMT 1
Hi Victoria it sounds vaguely familiar but not really sure what it could be. When approx was it published? 50s, 60s, 70s?
No I'm afraid the area lists arent that comprehensive as I never really have time to update them anymore, but I do have Vian Smith mentioned on the Dartmoor one.
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Post by victoria on Jul 3, 2014 14:06:21 GMT 1
Thank you susanb for pointing me in the right direction! I think it MIGHT be Not Such a Bad Summer by Pamela Macgregor Morris Claire, many thanks - it was most likely 1950s ...
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cloud
Pony Trekker
Highland Dale
Posts: 56
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Post by cloud on Jul 3, 2014 16:18:59 GMT 1
I'd rather like to read that - is it a hard or easy book to find??
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Post by Claire on Jul 3, 2014 20:58:55 GMT 1
I've got Not Such a Bad Summer but haven't got round to reading it yet. Had a quick scan and not sure it sounds like the one you were talking about Victoria. Its about 3 children, Helen, Roger and Tommy who are staying on their Aunt's farm in Dartmoor. Seems like they may get caught up with an escaped convict amongst other adventures. There's nothing about London mentioned. I'll be reading it all shortly so I'll be able to say more then but it really doesn't look likely its the one.
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Post by susanb on Jul 4, 2014 4:50:41 GMT 1
No implied criticism re the list, Claire.....I can't keep my own catalog up to date, can't even imagine doing a website! Just wanted to make sure victoria knew not to give up if none of the books looked like the right one.
Speaking of which, I think you're right re Not Such a Bad Summer....didn't the children go to live with an aunt? It's been a while since I read it. Always possible that two (or more) books are being conflated....I've done that often myself!
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Post by Claire on Jul 4, 2014 13:12:32 GMT 1
No implied criticism re the list, Claire.....I can't keep my own catalog up to date, can't even imagine doing a website! Just wanted to make sure victoria knew not to give up if none of the books looked like the right one. Dont worry Susan I didnt think that was the case at all! Was glad I hadn't missed out Vian Smith tho as that would have been rather a bloomer lol. Actually it doesn't look like the book IS on the list. Its bugging me cos it does sound vaguely familiar. Just thinking outside the box, we've been assuming it was written by a British author due to the location but I know there are a few US authors who have written books set in the UK. Any thoughts Susan?
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Post by Dasko K. on Jul 7, 2014 16:47:29 GMT 1
Hi,
as already mentioned in the introduction I´m looking for the following book, I have no clue who wrote it nor what the title is (ok, I had in in a German translation as a child):
The book is about a girl with a pony (haha) who sometimes meets a girl named Amanda who sends her to a familiy to compete with them. They expect Amanda and dont´t like her at all. But a she is a good rider they need her. As the girl arrives there she learns that she was cheated by this very Amanda and pretends to be her and behaves very bad. Of course there is a happy ending...
Any Ideas?
Thanks a lot!
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tamzin
Pony Clubber
Posts: 110
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Post by tamzin on Jul 8, 2014 17:46:35 GMT 1
This sounds like "Jill and the Perfect Pony" by Ruby Ferguson. Amanda tricks Jill into going to stay with the Lockett family who are competing as a team and they think that Jill is Amanda.
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Post by Dasko K. on Jul 8, 2014 18:35:51 GMT 1
Thanks Tamzin! It´s of course Jill and the perfect pony as I learned yesterday. In childhood I had the book called "Über die Hürden" which is (as I learned today) a compilation of some Jill books published here in the late 70es. Jills Gymkhana which I read yesterday (it was obviously a Jill day for me ) didn´t trigger any memories but I remember Amanda, this Dinah girl and the wheelchaired Martin. So I´m looking so forward to getting my hands on the rest of the series
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