Margaret Stanley Wrench

British author, poet and playwright. Wrote just two pony books which form a short series. Flashes of the author's poetic tendancies appear in the books in the form of some lyrical passages, but the stories are otherwise fairly average. The second book however does have particularly nice illustrations by Geoffrey Whittam.

Sealsham Series:
Short traditional/adventure series set in the seaside town of Sealsham.

1) THE RIVAL RIDING SCHOOLS
(LUTTERWORTH 1952)
ILLUSTRATED BY F. FURNIVAL
SUMMARY: When a new riding school appears in Sealsham and becomes a rival to Mrs. Gosling's Manor Stables, Gwen and Dick Paigle and their friends are sure that something nefarious is going on at the rival stables and decide to turn detective.
PONYMAD RATING: 3 HORSESHOES

2) HOW MUCH FOR A PONY
(LUTTERWORTH 1955)
ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY WHITTAM
SUMMARY: Sally longs for a pony and is envious of the Paigle children and their cronies who all have their own ponies. She has been saving up for one for years but still doesn't have enough money. Her cousin Ben is working in the Granger's stables and the kindly Grangers allow Sally to learn to ride there. But Sally still feels left out of things and looked down upon by Gwen and some of her snooty friends. When a piece of jewellery belonging to Mrs. Granger goes missing, some of the girls put the blame on Sally. How can she prove her innocence? And will she ever have a pony of her own and be part of the gang?
PONYMAD RATING: 2 HORSESHOES

Collectors info:
Reasonably rare, but not impossible to find I the UK and usually quite low cost. Harder elsewhere.