It’s a long time since horses have been seen in Dumbarton High Street. There is one in the picture above pulling a cart delivering coal to local shops and houses.
But a brown and white piebald pony, believed to be owned by the a member of the travelling community, made its way from Dalreoch across the old bridge over the River Leven and finally ended up in collision with a car at Riverside Lane outside the Dumbarton Harp Club, housed in the old High Church bulding.
The horse certainly caused a bit of a stir and a few people said they had to look smart to stay out of its way.
Film footage of the incident is available on Facebook.
One local man said: “It clipped me on my ankle as I quickly got out of its road. The horse was going pretty fast.
“It galloped over the bridge and turned right on to the pavement in High Street. Then it hit a car on Riverside Lane. The owner came after it and took it back to where it had come from.”
There is an apocryphal story from many years ago that a similar incident happened when one of the Store milk horses escaped and ran away from the stables in College Street.
The horse is said to have crashed through the window of Alex Murphy’s barber shop next door to the Railway Tavern.
One local waiting for a haircut is said to have been unfazed by the incident.
He is said to have looked up from his Noon Record and quipped: “I think that’s the first winner in Alex!”
Bill Heaney