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Thursday 26 July 2012

National Shire Horse Centre, Yealmpton

All the following photos came from various visits to the Shire Horse Centre back in 2009. On a recent visit, we found this place has totally changed with new owners living onsite therefore please respect their privacy & do not attempt to trespass.

I first visited the more or less abandoned Shire back in 2009 with a few more revisits before it was taken over by the new owners. Warnings of unfriendly travellers pitched onsite kept a few people away which, thankfully, is the possible reason as to why the site had suffered little vandalism compared to some of the sites we have seen across the UK. On our fist visit, there for sure were a couple of caravans but nobody to be found anywhere so we decided on to have a quiet walk round the whole site, expecting to run into someone at some point. Past experience of running into hostile people kept us on our toes & back in the '90's I had to make a hasty exit from a disused mill in Bradford to avoid confrontation with a huddle of junkies. Thankfully this turned out to be quite the opposite.


First opened in 1978, the centre became the top Shire Horse Centre in the country just 7 years later in 1985, not long after expansion to accommodate more horses & attractions. In 1978, the Guinness Book Record for the World's Tallest Living Horse was awarded to the resident Boringdon Black King standing at a whopping 19.2" hands.

Attracting around 300,000 visitors a year at it's peak, the Shire ran into financial difficulties in the mid-nineties. It was then taken over by the Hockin family who struggled on with it for another four years until it's final closure in the Autumn 2000, with the auctioning of assets including the Shire Horses taking place in the November of the same year.




Since closure, the site lay derelict, awaiting development that never came until recently when new owners purchased the site for their family home. Back in '09 when we took the photos, the site was used by SW War Games for airsoft, & a filming location for a comedy movie called Holy Water that featured Linda Hamilton (Sarah Connor in Terminator) & Tommy 'Tiny' Lister (The Fifth Element), signs were still to be found dotted around the site.

Postal van used in the filming of Holy Water
Bedroom set in the former family cottage
Part of the film script. The VHS videos were found in-situ in the bedroom

Joined by Si & Graybags on the first visit, we spent a full day walking round the site & to great surprise, found every building open. Personally I found some of the buildings a little sad to see, essentially a place time forgot with nature taking her hold, especially in the outdoor adventure area that now resembled a jungle course. I was pretty taken aback when we came across some of the old Shire Horses reigns & saddlery that didn't sell at auction, still on display in one of the older stables.

Saddlery left on display & just look at that incredible stone floor
Stables lie silent & empty - awaiting the warm welcome sound of hoofs once again
Amusing stable graffiti - Lazy Horse?

There was a building that we couldn't find at first, known as Junglemania, a soft play area for kids so we opted for a nice wander around the outdoor arenas & nature walks - that's when it really sank in how much of a loss to the area this multi-themed site really is. All the trade skills lost through it's closure including blacksmiths, glass engravers, saddlers & potters, not to mention the many other jobs to allow the centre to function. Sadly, I moved to Plymouth a few years after it closed but would have loved to taken my son there just for the education alone with the skills on display.....oh & get him on the deathslide.

An eerie silence lies amid the former outdoor arena, slowly being reclaimed by nature
Sketchy bridge over the lake along the old nature walk
The bridge of doom across to the top of the deathslide

We did finally find the Junglemania after a good few hours enjoying the lovely sunshine & a good hour of fun was spent coming away with friction burns from the slide that really did need a good polish. It was really what we needed after hours walking the site with some rib-cracking moments. Oh by the way, if you think we are young, our combined age at the time was 118 - yeah, you're right, we're just big kids at heart enjoying life whilst documenting our lost heritage!
Righty then, Junglemania......GO!
Ah but hang on, we're too tall......
....quick, there's a noise outside......best blend in!
Graybags couldn't resist but ruined his favourite top from the friction burns

So there we have it, a glimpse of the old Shire for you to see through our eyes. Once the site's assets were sold off, there was little chance of something like it returning & it was going to get redeveloped either way but I'm really pleased for the new owners who have taken it on to care for as their family home.

If you have any memories of the centre, worked there or indeed have any photos you would like to share, please do get in touch as we would love to hear from you!

28 comments:

  1. i spent a lot of time here as a child, its sad to see it so unloved now. Happy memories flooding back thank you .

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    1. Thankfully a new family are turning it back into a home. It looks very loved now with lots of TLC & hard work.

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  2. Brilliant. I went in there a few years ago and got into junglemania, the death slides the reptile centre and stables. The vet section was still full of animal drugs, there were heat mats and other equipment in the reptile centre and even found one of those machines that you put money in and it spirals down before flying into the bottom (there was lots of change in it to!). The only animals left though were a few chickens!

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    1. It's amazing what gets left behind at some of the sites we see. We have seen a fully stocked abandoned pub in the past. That went down a treat!

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  3. I've got a film on YouTube from the 1970s of the Shire Horse Centre. If you want to check it out, it's at:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em-_WpnDS9M
    Best wishes,
    Derek Tait.

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    1. Thanks Derek! I'll push people your way to view it. I'm waiting for a family home video shot in the eighties to be delivered & will upload that once received.

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  4. Amazing!! Forgot all about this place. Kind of assumed it was still open somehow. Like everyone else it brings back memories I almost forgot I had as I was quite young when I went. It's a little sad to see it like this bit I prefer that than to see it flattened, and I think in places it looks really cool when nature takes over. Another good find!!

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  5. Thanks Joe! We sat for a while to eat lunch in the old outdoor arena, trying to imagine all the fine displays that happened there & a buzzard flew down to one of the old perches. Great to see, & I think one of the other lads managed to grab a photo. It looks like the new owners will be making as much use of the original buildings rather than them be torn down which is fantastic.

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  6. This is amazing, ive been trying to find out what happened to this place for years! Loved the place and would do anything to just have one more look around. Would love to know the future of the site, i would hate it if developers turn it into a housing estate. Would be the place i'd buy if i won the lottery!

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  7. Very happy memories of being taken there as child and of many cars in Plymouth who displayed the car sticker which is featured in your first photo. I also went there in the very late 90's for a Eurobell Christmas meal probably not long before it closed for good.

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  8. Always remember the grand display of Shires in the display arena - at the end the guy commentating would say: "I'm going to leave these horses here for you to come and look at now. But remember, if a Shire horse treads on your foot, the horse won't feel a thing ..... but you will!!!"

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  9. am so gutted i spent many days out here as a child.it was awesome you never tired of it.so gutted my children will never get to experience it

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    1. Well you never know what's round the corner :)Do you have any old photos for the Shire when it was open?

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  10. One of the best places in Devon that i visited with my family as a kid in the late 80's. I was MAD on Horses, I was obsessed with Boringdon Black King.....should have a photo or two somewhere with him and i very much remember the commentator of the Shire display saying "remember, if a Shire Horse treads on your foot, the horse wont feel a thing but you will". What happened to King does anyone know??

    We loved the death slides......first ones we had ever seen and we had hours of fun on them. Although my poor little sister managed to rip her leggings on them and had to spend the day with a coat round her waist!! Oooops lol.

    I was really saddened to hear of its closure. Its been a trip down memory lane reading about your revisit. I hope the new owners have as much love for the Shire as all its visitors did and may it bring them many fond memories as it has thousands of families :0)

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  11. I just came across your site trying to find out if the shire horse centre is still open.So sad. I have good memories of this place whilst on a family holiday some 20 years ago.



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  12. When our children were small we always holidayed at Paignton - we lived in East Anglia then - and from the time we arrived at Goodrington until we visited it was always the same question "when are we going to see the horses Dad?" Very many happy memories of days spent there, so sad to see it derelict now.

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  13. I grew up in Yealmpton and spent so many days at the centre, it was fantastic, I can't understand how it ever closed down. i would have loved to be able to take my girls there when visiting my parents :(

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  14. My father worked on the buildings at the shire horse centre when I was a kid and my parents were friends with the owners so I spent alot of my childhood there. It was a fantastic place and they were a lovely family, I am still in the area so when the airsoft was there I used to play (I had an advantage as i new all the places to hide and sneek around!) It looked like everyone just upt and left leaving stuff as it was. Very sad. Fingers crossed it will be taken care of now.

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  15. i have many happy memories their a few sad but mainly good few mistakes you no who you are ? lol i would love to come c the site but probably will nether get the chance good luck to the new owners beutifull site .

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  16. We visited twice. In the early 1990s, the place hummed with life and things to see, so we thought it would be a good place to see the total eclipse of the sun in 1999. It was cloudy, of course. There was hardly anyone there. We had the arena entirely to ourselves, as the sky turned black. It was a lovely day, but melancholy. 14 years on, I have just searched the web to find out what became of the place. Very sad.

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  17. Wow so sad! my mum used to work there when i was a child! I remember Boringdon Black King so well, he did indeed stand on mums foot once, i remember the arena and the death slides like it was yesterday... so sad to see the stables still and empty. What a shame it has closed down, came across this page whilst googling for KIng, to show my daughter ! Cannot believe i remembered his name all these years later! feeling sad now :(

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  18. I have 2 old guides from the centre from my visits in the late 1970's and another probably from the early 80's the '80's' guide notes the Flower family as owners .....Very sad indeed

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  19. very [pleased to find information about this, as i have many happy memories, when it first opened.
    still have an ornament made by the potter there, made with the red devon clay.
    went back to the area, only last year, with intention of visiting the place again, only to find no information about the farm, so i assumed it had closed down, such a shame.
    would love to visit the derelict site to explore though.
    at least i have my memories and guide book of the place

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  20. As a teenager in the 1970's, I used to work there at weekends and during the school holidays, when it was owned by Tony and Diane Flower. There were loads of us who used to work there, American tourists used to think we were all related and one big happy family. We did a bit of everything, manning the gate, helping out in the shop, café and ice cream kiosk but mainly we worked with the horses feeding and grooming them and taking them into the daily parades. When I was there it was a huge grey called Duke who was the tallest and the youngest was a colt called Regent. I'd always loved horses and have two of my own now, but it's heavy horses that really captured my heart and I would love to be able to do something in the future to help preserve the breeds. Names I remember from way back then are Simon Grant, Simon Giddings, Ian Mollard, Gary and his brother Peanut, wonder what they're all doing now? :o)

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  21. Can anyone remember the maze they had there? Almost certainly the first thing to be lost to nature. King was the tallest shire horse in the world

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  22. We live near the site and have been told it is re-opening soon!

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  23. Many happy memorys of this place. Found a page of facebook couple weeks ago. Give me updates. I think they might be reopening as all the horses are back and they are renovating the deathslide and jungle mainia. Why would they be doing all this work if they weren't reopening

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  24. http://www.reiterhof-henninger.de/LD/NationalShireHorseDevon/Yealmpton.htm

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