Name: Norman Thelwell Born:  May 3rd 1923 Place: Birkenhead, Merseyside Died:  Feb 8th 2004

Norman Thelwell, who has died aged 80, created some of the most well known illustrations in the horsey world with those young girls getting dragged along or not as the case may be by their very round, and often not very willing overhairy mounts.

His first book, Angels on Horseback, was published in 1957 and is still in my view the most popular and sort after of all his books. A lot more books followed, including the infamous 'Penelope and her pony, Kipper. (Full list of his books and publication years in 'collectables' area).  Such was the popularity of these over-fed, hairy but very cute ponies and their often tempermental jockeys, that even now 'real-life' ponies are often described as being 'a typical Thelwell!'Norman Thelwell also drew and painted many other subjects for the 'Punch' magazine and the Daily Express, but none were so well known as the equestrian ones.

Fans often wrote to him to tell him of their ponies' exploits, which I am sure he found very useful since he himself admitted to having no horse sense and only ridden once in his life.  "Horses", he said, "were great windy things that'll grab your coat off your back as soon as look at you". As for humans, most "find life a bit of a problem and are pretty jumpy under the skin. It is this insecurity when dealing with other people or animals or inanimate objects that I find both comical and endearing."

In most of his cartoons, it appeared that the animals always seemed to be getting the better of the humans.

One of two sons of Christopher and Emily Thelwell, the family lived in a small terraced house in Birkenhead.  Norman and his brother played in the street and took penny busrides, when they could afford it, into the country.Thelwell always had in his posession a sketchpad and pencil, to catch anything he fancied on paper.

He went to Rock Ferry High School, which had no art room, and left at 16 to become a junior clerk in an office. World War II had already broken out and at 18 he joined the East Yorkshire Regiment as an infantryman. Happy to carry extra weight in the form of his sketchbook and paints, he dashed off extraordinarily vivid pen-and-ink drawings of his fellow soldiers.

While in hospital towards the end of the war he saw a cartoon in an army magazine and felt sure he could do better. He sold two cartoons for £50, and by the time he was demobbed he was making a small but regular income.

He then enrolled at Liverpool college of Art, where he completed the 5 year degree course in only 3!

By this time he was married to Rhona Ladbury, a painter whom he had met while both were in the army and attending a life class in the evenings in Nottingham. After he graduated they went to live in a village on the edge of Wolverhampton, where he taught at the art college and drew cartoons in his spare time, selling his first one to Punch in 1950.

Where they lived had a field next to it with two overweight, very hairy ponies of uncertain temper.  "They were owned by two little girls about three feet high who could have done with losing a few pounds themselves", he recalled. "They would arrive to collect their mounts in yellow pullovers, tiny jodhpurs and velvet safety helmets.  I could hear the air whisper as they tested their whips, so could Thunder and Lightening, who pointedly ignored them and went on grazing"
"As the children got near, the ponies would swing round and present their ample hindquarters and give a few lightning kicks which the children would sidestep calmly, and they had the head-collars on those animals before they knew what was happening. I was astonished at how meekly they were led away; but they were planning vengeance - you could tell by their eyes."

One day in 1953 he drew the scene and sent it off to Punch. After five years at the art college he realised that he was earning more in a couple of hours doing cartoons than in a week's teaching.

In 1956 he became a cartoonist for the News Chronicle. He moved to the Sunday Dispatch in 1960, and on to the Sunday Express, where he remained, in 1962. He also continued drawing for Punch, and produced more than 1500 cartoons for the magazine by the late 1970s.

He saw the funny side of even sometimes more serious issues, and his sense of style and humour are second to none.

He also enjoyed renovating old buildings to live in , one of which he describes brilliantly in 'A millstone round my neck' and also 'A plank bridge by a pool'.

He was contented to stay at home, except to play boules once a week , or to visit the local pub with his wife.

Approximately five years ago, Norman Thelwell was diagnosed as suffering from Alzheimers .  He is survived by his wife and their son and daughter.

He will and is sorely missed, and his work will carry on to be cherished by many more adults, children and Penelope a-likes for generations to come.

most info adapted from
 www.smh.com.au  and other sites/publications