Rosemary Simmonds

Rosemary Simmonds is a prolific writer of short stories.  She wrote six collections of them for Award Publications, though not, as far as I know, any full length novels.  I’ve read one collection:  Molly and the Misfits, which is the sort of book a Victorian child would have been given to teach  it how to look after a pony.  It is chock-full of moralistic advice, and in nearly every story disaster happens because of the thoughtlessness of the pony owner.  The end effect of all this is to make you feel intensely gloomy, particularly as some of the situations are a little far-fetched, and you would have hoped that they at least would have ended well: disaster having seemed so unlikely at the off.  It seems that, in Rosemary Simmond’s world at that time, anything that could go wrong, would.  I am told the other collections are cheerier reads.  I hope so.

According to the biographical information in the books, Rosemary Simmonds had a great interest in taking on other people’s difficult ponies.  Perhaps this is what skewed her view:  if all you ever see is the disasters caused by other people’s hopelessness presumably you do need an outlet somewhere.  When she wrote her stories, she lived in North Yorkshire, and owned a Welsh Arab cross gelding, Thornley Star Turn, whose mischievous temperament apparently provided inspiration for some of the stories; presumably the happier ones!  

Many thanks to Sue Howes for her help with the pictures.

Finding the books:  none are now in print, but are all easy to find, and cheap.

Dangerous Journey (and other pony stories)

Award Publications, London, 1989, 192 pp.  

Cover Francis Phillpps.  Internal: Jane Ettridge, Valerie Sangster & Dudley Wynne

Long Way from Home (and other pony stories)

Award Publications, London, 1989.  192 pp.

Cover Francis Phillpps.  Internal: Jane Ettridge, Valerie Sangster & Dudley Wynne

The Silver Stallion (and other pony stories)
Award Publications, London, 1989, 192 pp.

Cover Roger Payne.  Internal: Janet Wickham, Jane Ettridge, Francis Phillipps, Gavin Rowe

A Gentle Touch (and other pony stories)

Award Publications, London, 1989, 192 pp.  

Molly and the Misfits (and other pony stories)

Award Publications, London, 1989, 192 pp.  

Cover Roger Payne.  Internal: Gavin Rowe, Valerie Sangster, Chris Rothero, Dudley Wynne,
Janet Wickham and Jane Ettridge

Carnival Adventure (and other pony stories)

Award Publications, London, 1989, 192 pp.  

Short stories:

Good Prospects in Pony Tales, illus Steve Humfress

Bibliography