444 JOHN PORTER OF KINGSCLERE 



of forming a racecourse on the outskirts of 

 Newbury. Many and many a time, when travel- 

 hng by rail between Newbury and London, I had 

 cast covetous glances at the level stretch of land 

 immediately to the south of the railway, and 

 within half a mile of Newbury station. It 

 always seemed to me an ideal situation for a 

 racecourse. When I thought of the large number 

 of training stables within a radius of a few miles 

 — those at Lambourn, Wantage, Ilsley, East 

 Wiltshire, and North Hampshire — I convinced 

 myself that the enterprise I had in mind was 

 sure to be a success. 



The land I wanted belonged to Mr. Lloyd H. 

 Baxendale, of Greenham. Having decided that 

 I would endeavour to convert my ideas into 

 tangible form, I approached the owner, and 

 found him willing to sell. My next step was to 

 have sketch plans and particulars prepared. 

 Armed with these I boldly approached the Jockey 

 Club with a view to securing a provisional 

 licence. They were not as ready to approve my 

 scheme as I had hoped; indeed, they applied to 

 it a liberal douche of cold water. The chief 

 objection raised was that there was already a 

 sufficient number of racecourses in England. 

 My arguments to the contrary did not seem 

 to convince the Stewards, and I had to come 

 away without receiving a definite answer to my 

 application. 



