Charles Warne Charlie Warne was born at Parkengear, Probus on the 9th November 1929, one of four sons to Gladys and Henry Warne. Many people in Probus will have seen Charlie walking his horse every day from the stable on High Street to the meadow in Chapel Street. When he reached the age of 11 or 12, he had the opportunity, through his school, to access Hobbas’ Farm, at the end of Wagg Lane. Each year, for two weeks, children were given time to work on the farms, helping to pick potatoes. It was at this time that Charlie found his love of horses. He very quickly dismissed the intended task of potato picking for the Shire horses, learning all he could about them. Charlie learnt how to handle these big horses, break them and plough with them, even winning a prestigious ploughing competition when he was still quite young. Charlie Warne was, so we are told, a master ploughman.
Image: Charlie and Joan on their wedding day at St StephenIn-Brannel church and below with their young family.
At H C Nicholls & Sons, Charlie gained several local farmers as friends, and these friendships continued throughout his life. John Richards was one of these long-life friendships. Up until recently, Charlie was still called upon by John to sharpen his butchery knives, as John says, ‘No one could sharpen a knife as well as Charlie.’
Charlie spent many hours over on the farm, often when he should have been in school, but as he once said, ‘They never knew where I was to.’ On the farm, he went on to learn a second trade, the art of butchery. This put him in good stead for a job opportunity at the local slaughterhouse, owned at the time by H C Nicholls & Sons. But first, they had to persuade him to leave his beloved farm. After several attempts, Charlie eventually gave in and started work at the slaughterhouse. At the age of 28, on 30th March 1957, Charlie married local girl, Joan Truscott, and they moved to Goldmartyn in High Street, Probus and in time along came son Adrian and then daughter Mel.
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