The fieldworkers took a keen interest in the horse-drawn vehicles that were still being used in the rural locations they visited. They took photos and produced illustrations to record what these contraptions looked like and how they worked. 

The fieldworkers were keen for the important role the horses played to be remembered once they were replaced by more modern, motorised alternatives. Some informants talked of the railways, but carts and the use of horses and donkeys were the main focus of the fieldworkers’ questions, drawings and photographs.

Carts

Most of the carts recorded were wood-armed, horse-drawn vehicles. The following images record their appearance and use. Those showing farm workers are particularly valuable for bringing these traditional means of transport to life.

‘Wood-Armed Dales Cart’ (LAVC/PHO/P1195) by Werner Kissling Muker, North Yorkshire, 1966.

‘Manure Cart’ (LAVC/PHO/P1199) by Werner Kissling. Shaw Cote Farm, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, 1964. The cart has been fitted with pneumatic tyres.

As well as taking photographs, the fieldworkers also got their biros out to make a range of illustrations that record the details of these horse-drawn vehicles.

Illustration of cart, Thistleton, 1952. Recorded on page 5 of the Response Book.

‘Thistleton Response Book’ (LAVC/SED/2/2/5/7/10) by Peter Wright.

Illustration of cart, Lyonshall, Herefordshire, 1952. Recorded on page 1 of Response Book.

‘Lyonshall Response Book - 15He7’ (LAVC/SED/2/2/15/7/10) by Peter Wright.

Handwritten notes in an SED response book

Illustration of Oxfordshire Farm Cart, Eynsham, 1952. Recorded on page 2 of the Response Book .

'Notes [Eynsham Response Book]’ (LAVC/SED/2/2/25/4/10) by Peter Wright.

Illustration of farm cart, Netteswell, Essex, 1952. Recorded on page 1 of Response book.

‘Notes [Netteswell Response Book]’ (LAVC/SED/2/2/29/11/10)

Farmers relied on carters to make sturdy wheels for their horse-drawn vehicles. In a recording made by fieldworker Stanley Ellis in 1953, Thomas Moscrop from Heddon-on-the-Wall in Northumberland described the process of making a cartwheel in detail. He explained the components, including the nave (wooden block at centre of wheel), spokes, felly (section of the wooden rim), shoulders, hoop (iron rim around the wheel), and bush (the metal lining in which the axle sits).

Listen here


'Thomas Moscrop interviewed by Stanley Ellis in 1953' ( LAVC/SRE/D/2/D82 )

A transcription for this audio can be found (here.)

Horse power

At one time, horses and donkeys were vital on the farm. They helped workers with ploughing and transporting heavy items such as hay bales and churns of milk. This was still the case in many of the rural locations that the fieldworkers visited in the 1950s and 60s.

In a recording made by fieldworker Stanley Ellis in 1953, Ned Keene in Haltwhistle, Northumberland shares several anecdotes about working horses. He recalls an incident where a horse stumbled while carting stones from Lees Hall quarry, and describes the journey to Hindleysteel over the old fell road. He also remembers reports of an accident with a horse-drawn bus near Keswick in Cumbria.

 

 

Listen here

'Ned Keene, interviewed by Stanley Ellis in 1953' 
( LAVC/SRE/D81)

A transcription of this audio can be found (here)

Meanwhile in Hilton, Shropshire in 1955, Ted Snead shared his experiences of ploughing with four horses and explained to Stanley Ellis that this was common practice in the area.

Listen here



( LAVC/SRE/D/2/D160 ) 'Ted Snead interviewed by Stanley Ellis in 1955’.
A transcription for this audio can be found (here)

In this image, informant Percy Metcalfe is depicted riding a modern Dales working pony carrying hay bales in 1965.

‘Dales Pony’ (LAVC/PHO/P0525) by Werner Kissling

Donkeys were relied upon for transporting heavy loads. This donkey, photographed in 1962, was used for carrying milk to Castle Bolton village in North Yorkshire from a local hillside.

‘Donkey as Pack Animal’ (LAVC/PHO/P1572) by Werner Kissling

In her interview with fieldworker Stanley Ellis in 1955, Rebecca Jefferson in Longtown, Cumbria recalled milking kye (cows) in the byre (cow-shed) and delivering milk by donkey.

Listen here



'Rebecca Jefferson interviewed by Stanley Ellis in 1955’ ( LAVC/SRE/D/2/D88 )
A transcription for this audio can be found (here)

The fieldworkers recorded many different dialect words for farm animals, including donkeys. In Northumberland, Cumbria, Yorkshire, and County Durham, a donkey was called a cuddy or fuzzock, while in East Anglia it was referred to as a dicky. Informants in Lincolnshire used the terms pronkus and fuzzazick, while many in the southern counties went for the more familiar name of ass.

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Homeward bound

Back to the introduction/main page

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A wooden cart

Home is where the heart is

Traditionally built homes that caught the fieldworkers’ eyes.

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An old building

Noisy neighbours

Barns, byres and beasts and their link to local dialect

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An old building