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Sunday, 19 January 2014
WHY THE NO 1 WAGON?
Another post for Sammy on Kindle!
At the Brewery, special wagons with low loading decks and smart cabins on the front, for the driver; were used when the horses were delivering beer in bottles and barrels to the public houses in the area. These "modern" wagons had rubber tyres and hydraulic brakes, just like your family car.
But for special occasions it had to be the No 1 Wagon. This was an original horse drawn dray from the last century, carefully restored and preserved in the company colours and displaying the name on a special headboard above the driver's seat.
These older wagons were built to be used before there were "tarmac" surfaced roads. Before there were men out doing road repairs every day. Before motor cars and lorries.
The wheels were large and narrow, made entirely of wood but with a strong iron tyre "shrunk" on to the outer rim. This iron protected the wooden bits and allowed the wagon to travel over the bumpy, rough, stone and dirt roads without damage. The big wheels meant they could cross large holes without falling into them.
As you can see from the picture above, the wheels were set at and angle to the ground, sloping outwards at the top. This was all to do with simple physics and the "principal of moments", something you young folk will learn at "big" school. It is all to do with going round corners and carry loads. Your family car is designed in a similar way but because of all the bodywork you can not see the "steering geometry"!
Today, you use rubber tyres because the roads are far more smooth and if you are lucky, with not so many pot holes!
So the No 1 Wagon was used just for special occasions. It was extra smart and beautiful to look at; a perfect advertisement for the company. I must add that driving a traditional wagon with iron tyres on modern roads was likely to try and shake the teeth out of your mouth and the grinding grumbling noise from the iron tyres could give you a big headache! ks
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Monday, 2 December 2013
Sammy Goes North and the Harness
"Joe has spent hours cleaning and polishing the harness he is going to use on Sammy and Ebony".
It's not just to make it sparkle and shine although that is superb to see.
The Harness is Joe's only physical control over the horses, he will be giving them their minute by minute instructions by word of mouth of course, but he needs the harness as back up.
Also of course, the harness is the means for the horses to be able to pull and stop the vehicle they are working with.
If the vehicle like the London Brewery dray, weighs several tons with its full load, then the harness is going to be under huge strain as they climb or descend hills.
The harness transmits the full power of the horses and their braking effort too!
The harness is made of the best possible English leather and is hand made. The composition is made up of layers of hand stitched leather, cut and shaped to fit the size and type of horse...perfectly! It costs many thousands of pounds and will have the badges and designs of the Brewery attached in prominent places too. The collars are made for each individual horse; they are filled with soft rye straw and covered in soft English wool cloth, so that their fit is perfect and will not cause any problems for the horse during his day's work.
So Joe will not only clean the harness every day to remove the sweat and dirt but he will totally dismantle it, piece by piece to ensure that the bits that wear are free from damage and will not break under strain. It will take him several hours to dismantle clean polish and reassemble each set of harness with its many buckles and brass fittings! Every day!
Another info... post from Keith and Cracker!
It's not just to make it sparkle and shine although that is superb to see.
The Harness is Joe's only physical control over the horses, he will be giving them their minute by minute instructions by word of mouth of course, but he needs the harness as back up.
Also of course, the harness is the means for the horses to be able to pull and stop the vehicle they are working with.
If the vehicle like the London Brewery dray, weighs several tons with its full load, then the harness is going to be under huge strain as they climb or descend hills.
The harness transmits the full power of the horses and their braking effort too!
The harness is made of the best possible English leather and is hand made. The composition is made up of layers of hand stitched leather, cut and shaped to fit the size and type of horse...perfectly! It costs many thousands of pounds and will have the badges and designs of the Brewery attached in prominent places too. The collars are made for each individual horse; they are filled with soft rye straw and covered in soft English wool cloth, so that their fit is perfect and will not cause any problems for the horse during his day's work.
So Joe will not only clean the harness every day to remove the sweat and dirt but he will totally dismantle it, piece by piece to ensure that the bits that wear are free from damage and will not break under strain. It will take him several hours to dismantle clean polish and reassemble each set of harness with its many buckles and brass fittings! Every day!
Another info... post from Keith and Cracker!
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