Ashington horseman's life captured on DVD

Posted by The Journal on Dec 16, 08 10:17 AM in News

When enterprising schoolboy Billy Johnson bought his first pony at the tender age of 12, he never envisaged going on to spend his entire life working with horses.

Billy Johnson

Billy used ÃÂ£6 in savings to buy the pit pony from North Seaton Colliery near Ashington - and began an equestrian journey which has led to him becoming a widely-acknowledged expert in the old-fashioned skills of breaking and driving horses.

After helping a local milkman with deliveries and collecting pigswill, at the age of 15 Ashington-born Billy went down the pit at Linton Colliery. He didn't like the work and gave it up after six months to resume his true passion of working with horses.

With his trusty pony and home-made cart, he hawked rags around the back lanes of Ashington and braved the freezing waves of the North Sea to haul sea coal from Lynemouth beach - earning more money than his pitman father within months of leaving the mines.

He went on to be a well-known horse-drawn ice cream seller in the summer months, before concentrating on his real talent for buying, breaking and schooling driving horses, including 'difficult' animals sent to him by other owners.

Now divorcee Billy, 67, has had his fascinating lifestyle showcased in a TV programme, which has already been screened several times on Sky's Horse and Country channel, and in a DVD on sale in time for Christmas.

A Horseman's Life, which was made by Coast and Country Films, shows Billy at work in his home village of Lynemouth and follows him travelling in his horse and bow top caravan to the Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria.

Yesterday Billy said he had always wanted a film made about his life to pass on to his children and grandchildren.

"The film people contacted me when they came to Northumberland to film a Catherine Cookson-style period drama and needed an old fashioned horse and cart.

There are not a lot of old-fashioned horse drivers like me left, and I suppose I am one of a dying breed."

Heather Chapman, of Coast and Country Films, said: "It was immediately clear that Billy was a wonderful character with lots of stories to tell."

The DVD of A Horseman's Life is available from Al's Superstore in Ashington, Appleby's of Morpeth, Alnwick Post Office, Hedgely Garage in Powburn and Phillips' Newsagent in Rothbury. It is also available online at www.coastandcountrydvd.com or by calling 01296 641040.

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