Richard Williamson's Country Life Column December 15

Through the skylight in the tiles the brilliant stars of winter slid about over the frosted glass, undimmed by the yellow in the hurricane lamp, whose filament was damaged and glowed red in places like a decaying lava hole.

By The Newsroom

Published 13th Dec 2005, 16:36 BST

Updated 8th Jun 2018, 03:34 BST

Inside the stables it was warm, for the horses were warm, and made warm sounds with their great velvet lips in the manger.

Each animal was grinding up a seven-pound mix of rolled oats, mangolds and dampened wheat chaff. Bob spoke to them all the time in a soothing voice, especially when he appeared behind them to move along the stall as they were feeding. Blossom, the old bay mare was harmless, but Smiler, the chestnut gelding was nervous and temperamental and easily spooked. The ranny '“ a dead shrew '“ was then useful, for the sour smell drowned all other new, unusual and therefore possibly threatening scents the horse might have noticed and which therefore put it on the alert.

Richard Williamson's Nature Trails appears every week in the West Sussex Gazette. To read the full version of this column see December 15 issue.

West Sussex Gazette