Ponies, ponies, ponies
Joan Wanklyn
The Pony Club Magazine Annual used to publish an Equestrian Who’s Who as its last section up until 1973. Although not a riveting read for me at the time, it’s now a goldmine of information over 30 years later as I research the development of the pony book. Joan Wanklyn featured in the Who’s Who, and it is from her entries there that I have taken this biographical information.
Joan Wanklyn was born on 7th March, 1924 at Benington, near Stevenage -
Joan Wanklyn was commissioned to illustrate the I-
Joan Wanklyn was a regular figure in the early Pony Club Annuals and Pony Club Books, and illustrated some stories in Pony Magazine Annuals in the 1960s. She wrote an article for the very first Pony Magazine Annual Percy’s Pony Annual in 1953: Drawing Horses in Action, which is far superior to some of its successors as it actually gives you a realistic idea of what you were to do.
She painted portraits of many famous horses of the day, including Kilbarry, Tramella, Laurien, High and Mighty, Craven A, Workboy and Pegasus. Her largest work (as at 1972) was two murals of Foxhunter for Colonel Harry Llewellyn: these were 17’ x 3’ 9” and 13’ x 3’ 9”.
Towards the end of her career, she concentrated on military subjects. Her hobbies, she said, were painting, reading and motoring, and she liked “meeting interesting characters, human and animal.” Her chief loathing varied: it was mostly “those who try to stop others doing things,” whereas in 1968 it was complacency. It’s interesting to speculate what event brought that change about.
Links and sources
Pony Magazine Annuals 1962-
I-
Some examples of Joan Wanklyn’s equestrian portraits
Written & illustrated by Joan Wanklyn
Brown Shadow the Otter
Frederick Warne, 1948
Chequers, or Kitty Alone
Frederick Warne, 1948
Bobtail Shawn
Frederick Warne, 1949
Bawse the Badger
Frederick Warne, 1950
Flip, the Story of an Otter
Frederick Warne, London, 1951
Drawn for Friends
Threshold Books, London, 1986
Illustrated by Joan Wanklyn
Evelyn Lambart: Sylkie the Spider
Frederick Warne, London, 1950
Cecily Marianne Rutley: Wee One the Wren
Frederick Warne, London, 1950
Gurney Slade: Tamba the Lion
Frederick Warne, London, 1950
Sidney E Fisher: Everyday Verses -
Frederick Warne, London, 1950
Sidney E Fisher: Everyday Verses -
Frederick Warne, London, 1950
Cecily Marianne Rutley: Oscar the Otter
Frederick Warne, London, 1950
George Hampden Edwards: Pictus the Golden Pheasant
Frederick Warne, London, 1950
A L Haydon: This Our England
Frederick Warne, London, 1950
Cecily M Rutley: The Hedgehog, the Badger and the Otter
Frederick Warne, London, 1952
Cecily M Rutley: The Wren, the Blue Tit and the Woodpecker
Frederick Warne, London, 1952
Monica Edwards: Spirit of Punchbowl Farm
Collins, London, 1952
Sir Cecil Blacker: Monkey Business
Quiller Press, London, 1953
Constance Woodhead: The Tale of Lazy Bush-
Frederick Warne, London, 1953
Cecily M Rutley: The Tale of William Woodpecker
Frederick Warne, London, ?
Monica Edwards: The Wanderer
Collins, London, 1953
Monica Edwards: Punchbowl Harvest
Collins, London, 1954
Mrs D.V.S. Williams: Riding
Educational Productions Ltd, London, 1954
E H Parsons: The Twins in the New Forest
Hutchinson, 1955
E H Parsons: Quest for a Pony
Hutchinson, 1956
E H Parsons: Family in the Saddle
Hutchinson, 1958
Mrs O Faudel-
British Horse Society, Kenilworth, 1958
Brigadier ‘Monkey’ Blacker: The Story of Workboy
Collins, London, 1960
Glenda Spooner: Pony Trekking
Museum Press, London, 1961
Training the Young Horse and Pony
British Horse Society, Kenilworth, 1964
Training the Young Pony
The Pony Club, Kenilworth, 1964
The Horseman’s Bedside Book
Ed Lieut-
B T Batsford Ltd, London, 1964
Guns at the Wood: A Record of St John’s Wood Barracks
Ed & Illustrated, London, 1972
Major M C R Wallace: The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery
Threshold Books, 1984
General Sir Cecil Blacker: Sandhurst Sketches
1991
R S Summerhays: Ponies
Softback booklet published for Moss Bros, undated
Sunshine Stories (contributor to)
Blackie, London undated
R.S. Summerhays: Correct Dress for Horse and Rider
TB Browne for Moss Bros, 1964
Above
Illustration from Bobtail Shawn
Below
Illustrations from
Drawn for Friends