[Verbena Daphne Brighton’s father, Walter Brighton, known in Gissing village as Collie, owned and worked with ponies for a living]

He had an amazing sense of humour—my father […] His wants were very few, a pint of beer, sitting in his pony cart smoking a clay pipe, listening to the birds, noting the different flowers as they appeared, and a rattling good laugh […] 

[…]

He was not a religious man and had no time for sanctimonious people, he could put up with a sinner so long as he was not a miserable one. Sitting quietly, he would suddenly break into song, I remember one day hearing what I thought to be a new hymn. ‘Allelulia Tedanjulia’, until I realised that Ted was the sexton and Julia his good wife, and mother would say ‘Walter behave yourself!’.