Five and Twenty Ponies
The Characters
Abraham Pike — Played by the amiable Mike Newman
The character of Abraham Pike was based on an actual riding officer who lived in Christchurch in the early 1800 's. He was not particularly successful^ in his work but he did have one redeeming feature, he was incorruptible!
In this scenario Mike was Chief riding Officer for the county of Padforshire and the near total absence of government troops made things difficult for him right from the start.
Mike had 30 revenue men at his disposal and not only did he have to try to control the smuggling gangs, he also had to watch over the loading and unloading of Merchant ships, record their cargo and destinations and give them the odd occasional 'rummage'. Mike also had 4 riding officers who acted as his ears and eyes gathering information on smuggling activities.
Mikes only military assistance came in the guise of 10 Dragoons lead by the rather intimidating cardboard character of Captain John Woods, but we shall hear more about him later.
Mike knew that there were many small smuggling gangs operating in the area but the main threat to the county came from the Carter Brothers. Being a large and well-organised gang, the dragoons had not been strong enough to take the Carters on, so at the beginning they kept to harassing the smaller gangs. However, Mike was determined to close the Carters and their gang down.
Mikes objectives
1. Accumulate enough evidence to bring the Carters to court and put them behind bars.
2. Ensure that the Carters operation is closed down for good, either by the above method or by using more ruthless tactics.
3. Recover as much contraband as possible.
4. Disrupt the Carters operation so that their clientele looses faith in their ability
to meet demand.
5. Transport all captured contraband to the bonded store in the city of Whitehaven in the
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