Page 213 - Redditch People

Redditch People

RON TONGUE

Ron came from a farming family and at the age of 17 he went to
work at the Austin’s at Longbridge. He cycled there and back, it
took him 45 minutes each way, then when he got home he was
expected to work on the farm until 11 or 12 at night!

He had some riding stables and bought some ‘knocked about’
horses, He nursed them back to health which meant that he had a
nucleus of half a dozen or so horses. This was in the time of the
Redditch Development Corporation. He went to their offices to
buy a car and instead they persuaded him to start a riding school.
At one time they lent him 260 acres and he had over a hundred
horses. He says,

‘Took off like a rocket. It went like a bomb. I made more
money out of the riding school in a few years than I ever did farming or working at the
Austin’.

He once broke his neck stopping a runaway horse and although he recovered to lose an ear. He
says he was working on a pick up when he tripped over a chain and went ‘smack down on my socks.
I had picked up a hacksaw to give him and it had got a new blade in. It turned up and hit my ear
and sliced my ear off. I jumped up with a few choice words, I said I’ve cut my so and so ear off.’
His ear was sewn back on but came off after a month, since then he has been fitted with a range
of artificial ears.

BERT FRISBY

Bert was born in 1901 and he has two claims to fame.

Firstly his father was a brickmaker and made the bricks for the
Tardebigge Hotel.

The second is that Bert worked for the famous Bromsgrove
Guild. They were making the gates for Australia House. Howev-
er, he was working 78 hours a week for 8 shillings (80p) so he
left to go to Austins at Longbridge. Herbert Austin had the idea
that small planes were going to take the place of cars so Bert
worked on the Sopwith fighter aircraft. Later he worked on the
Austin 7.

© RLHS 2015 Page: 213