To begin with Walter talks about travelling with donkeys as a young boy, and how he got into breeding the Hades Hill Fell ponies in the 1950’s.

The late 1940s and early 50’s saw the demise of the working pony but Walter started breeding ponies when everyone else was getting tractors

The subject of the fate of the semi-feral herds is something that came up time and time again.

Here he is with children at Settlebeck School in 2012 talking about the problems that need addressing.

The children at Settlebeck wanted to know what’s the most important quality of a Fell pony?

What is it about keeping Fell  ponies that you like the most.

Walter was passionate about ponies living out on common land and open fell.

But what are the advantages?

Since the late 1970’s Walter had driven a bow top waggon with a couple of Fell pair of Fell ponies from his farm outside Rochdale to Appleby Fair - one in the shafts and a sideliner and this journey was probably the thing he looked forward to most every year. Here he is describing what it feels like to make the journey horse drawn.