About Us

LCRC Today

Created for the sole purpose to enable one person to enter a one-day event in the 1960s, Lamberts Castle Riding Club Ltd (LCRC) has since thrived, over many years, to become a firm favourite in the area.

With around 90 members, LCRC is a flourishing club covering East Devon and South Somerset, boasting an impressive year-round diary of events as well as holding our own across Area 12 competitions at various disciplines.

Alongside regular dressage, pole work, jumping and cross country training with an array of skilful instructors, the LCRC committee works hard to host numerous rides across the stunning local countryside as well as entertaining talks and demos for the enjoyment of members.

LCRC considers itself a welcoming and friendly group that doesn’t take itself too seriously but equally determined on a competitive format, having countless successes over the years at regional and national levels.

It says a lot about the club that the team always receives complementary feedback from any events hosted. A common quote: “We always love Lamberts Castle RC events, everyone is always so friendly.”

 

Our Backstory

Lamberts Castle Riding Club Ltd was founded in the early 1960s by Mary Robertson, Beryl Wells and Pam Lowis — Mary’s daughter Anne is still a member today — with Bar Briscoe, Molly Crawford and Molly Nott Bower being some of the early members.

LCRC was started because Pam Lowis wanted to compete at the Powderham one-day event and, in order to compete, you had to be a riding club member — so Lamberts Castle Riding Club was formed!

In the early days, weekly dressage sessions were held on Lamberts Castle — the Iron Age hill fort owned by the National Trust with Major Scrimger, retired from the Army, teaching. Pam on her horse, Halfpence, went on to train with Bertie Hill and competed at Burghley.

The 1960s saw Peggy Dodd Martim teaching the members at the weekly sessions, still held on Lamberts Castle. They did very well at Prix Caprilli and went to the national finals.

In the 1970s Mary Robertson riding Reveille represented the club and came fifth at the eventing championships. During this time, Major Peter Rawlings, of School House Farm in the Blackdowns, held many shows and jumping competitions. He built a cross country course for the members to use and train at. Major Rawlings instructed the members and Christine Derryman rode and produced many of his ex-racehorses in club teams.

More recently, the club was been lucky enough to have had Jane Rogers at the helm as chair — for an impressive 16 years. Jane has taught and competed for the club throughout that time and has evented two of her horses very successfully in recent years, qualifying and competing several times at Badminton’s grassroots event.

2023 was a year of change, initially as we welcomed LCRC stalwart Fiona Benger as the new chair after Jane's understandable decision to hand the reins over after such a period of time, but also as the club took the decision to become a Company Limited by Guarantee, becoming one of the first in the UK to do so.