John Townsend's 'Pride of Westerham' outside the Warde Arms

The Warde Arms Inn circa 1904. A popular watering hole on the way to Verralls Corner. Standing outside the Inn is 'The Pride of Westerham', one of several coaches operated by the publican John Townsend who was a gentleman farmer at Covers Farm and also proprietor of a coaching and carting business near the railway station.

Looking every bit a horse drawn group of ‘Jolly Boys’ wait for the off outside the Warde Arms circa 1885. No doubt there was a barrel of bright beer stowed away on board somewhere for the journey.

John Townsend’s cartage business included open and closed carriages, the most famous in living memory being ‘The Pride of Westerham’ a carriage and four which was brought out of retirement and used to bring Sevenoaks football team to Westerham in 1948 for the centenary match on Farley Common.
Another of his carriages ‘The Pride of Kent’ saw service twelve years later in the 1960 Gala parade but on this occasion devoid of true horsepower, being instead towed by a short-wheelbase Land Rover. The theme was timely for the year, symbolising the royal marriage of Princess Margaret on May 6 1960.

Jean Peake nee Townsend “… Fred sat on the front to hold the brake, while my brother drove the jeep to tow the ‘Pride.’ We couldn’t get horses but we rescued ‘The Pride’ from Alderson’s yard in Brasted, where it was going rotten. We would have liked to have bought it, but he wretched sold it and we don’t know where it went…”