Fourteen year old Velvet is mad about horses. She knows 'there are pleasures earlier than love. Earlier than love, nearer heaven' in the form of horses.

When she wins a piebald horse in a raffle, she recognises he's something special. He can easily clear five-foot fences, and he'll do anything for her. Soon, she and butcher's assistant Mi have their sights set on the biggest race in England. But how can a girl in 1930s England get near Aintree?

Peter Flannery rescues National Velvet from Hollywood, returning 14 year old Velvet to her Sussex butcher's family in the 1930s. A welcome return for Enid Bagnold's strange, inventive fairytale about a young amateur girl rider who takes an untrained horse over the stiffest course in the world and wins.

Author: Enid Bagnold
Dramatised by Peter Flannery

Director/Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Polly Thomas
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4. Show less