Pictures

Following the invasion of Ethiopia by the Italians in 1935, Emperor Haile Selassie fled to exile in 1936 and eventually ended up in Fairfield House, Bath, England, where he remained until 1941 when he returned to Ethiopia.

This photograph is of a commemoration of his exile (date unknown but presumably in about 1936) in Rock Park, Barnstaple, and it shows horses from Billy Lees Riding Stables which were located at the bottom of Pathfield in Pilton (now Abbey Road). Billy Lee also ran a butchers' shop at 2A Pilton Street.

The participants were dressed up as 'wild tribesmen'. On the right on horseback is Harold Bartlett thought to be before he was married in 1936 (see link below).

Thanks to Mary Passmore for this photograph.

Link to wedding reception of Harold and Doris Bartlett in 1936:
http://vimp.thepiltonstory.org/picture/The-Wedding-Reception-of-Harold-a...