Spider pictured at Sheriff Hutton Village Fete yesterday.

Remembering Spider: The passing of a yard legend



Remembering Spider: The passing of a yard legend


Posted: 17.01 • 24 Aug 2026 • News


It was with much sadness today that we heard of the passing of Peter Webb, who worked with us as a rider and latterly a yard man for over 50 years.

Peter had been coming to help on a weekend in the spring of 1972, working alongside his sister Brenda.

I asked him one day what he was going to do when he left school and he didn’t know.

I offered him a job there and then.

Peter was always known as ‘Spider’, and I don’t think many people actually knew that he had a real name.

Spider came to ride the horses in a morning, and over the years he just stayed and became part of the furniture. He took a mid-career break as you might call it when he went off to work at a Stud up the road, but like so many of my staff over the years, he came back.

Spider started working for me on 7th August 1972. I always had a soft spot for Spider, and in the half century he worked for me he was never late for work.

Not once.

On an evening he’d take his ferret for a walk on a lead and then he’d toddle off to the pub for a drink of beer. Spider was about as local as one can get. He was born in Sheriff Hutton and I always said that if he lost sight of Sheriff Hutton Castle I think that he’d have to turn round and come back to the village.

What few people knew is that Spider was a talented artist. He once had a painting of Peter Champion hurdler Sea Pigeon exhibited in the village hall. A modest chap, Spider would never speak of his talents.



There were plenty of amusing tales involving Spider, but the one that stands out occurred in the late 1970s, when one Sunday morning he arrived at work trembling and shaken.

Wearing a balaclava to keep the wind out he’d been walking from his home in the village to New House Farm, a distance of less than a mile, when a police car had stopped to question him.

"Where do you live?" the policeman asked.

"In the village”, Spider replied.

"So, what do you think of prostitutes?" the officer asked.

A peculiar and unexpected question.

"I don’t know really," Spider replied.

The officer had been satisfied with what he’d heard.

Spider was not the Yorkshire Ripper.

Before departing, the policeman had one more question.

"Are there any suspicious people living in the village?"

Quick as a flash Spider replied: "How much paper have you got?"

In September 2024 Spider decided that age was catching up with him, and after 52 years of hard work he finally hung up his pitchfork for the final time.

Spider spent his retirement living in Norton, Malton. An adventure for the Sheriff-Huttonite as he explored pastures new.

Spider sadly passed away on 23rd August 2026. He'd spent the afternoon at the Sheriff Hutton Village Fete and caught up with plenty of his old friends and had a final chat and reminisce.

Rest In Peace Spider.

Another unique character and part of our history has left us.