PETER Ralph Pratt, a legendary old-school gentleman farmer, classic car enthusiast, rally driver and sportsman who ran Brook Farm near Romsey for 60 years, died on September 21. He was 80. Stories of Peter Pratt and his fun-loving antics, whether covered in cow dung, oil, straw, or dressed in his country tweeds, stretch from the UK to Europe and span his eight well-lived, mad-cap decades on this earth.
Born in Romsey hospital on April 13, 1944, Peter grew up the son of a female farmer, maiden name Clara “Millie” Cox, who was the matriarch of the family until her passing aged 98. Peter’s father, Ralph Pratt, who volunteered for the RAF, was tragically killed during WWII when his plane crashed into the sea off Scotland in 1943. Young Peter was raised on Brook Farm as an only child by his mother, her sisters, and her brother.
Peter went to school at Stroud, and Embley Park before attending boarding school at King’s College, Taunton. Peter excelled at sports and was a talented athlete and competitor throughout his life. He won cups for javelin, long jump, sprinting and long-distance running and was a member of the Kings and Royal Agricultural College Cirencester’s cross-country running teams, even making National Championships.
His 1950s long jump record is still up in the great hall at Embley. At King’s the aspiring athlete soon started cycling part way home from Taunton to Timsbury on school holidays. Competitive cycling featured prominently in his twenties and thir.