Darkie"

1925

My father, Samuel Kendrick, kept two horses at 33, Ewloe Place, a smallholding. Samuel used to take a horse and cart in the Jubilee every year. He used to put a pig on the wall so that it could see the band passing! His first horse was Darkie, whom he bought off Reggie Jenkinson. Samuel and Reggie Jenkinson used to take waggonettes to Mold as a bus service. The horses used to carry coal and bricks.

He looked after his horses well. Others I remember were called Flower and Tommy. Tommy had a misformed hoof, so my father had a special shoe made so that Tommy could walk properly. They were kept in Saint Matthew's field. My eldest brother, John Samuel, used to ride on the horses.

In the 1930s, my father bought an ex-army Ford lorry for John Samuel.

The colliers used to receive one ton of coal for one shilling (5p) as part of their wages. We used to carry the coal from Llay for the colliers. We also had a contract to carry explosives to the quarries, collieries and brickworks. So it was quite busy work with the horses. As a lad, I used to load the coal onto the waggons before going to school.

My grandfather, Enoch Holmes, was killed in Mountain Colliery.

Author: Kendrick, Raymond

Darkie"

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