Fond memories of Bradford Industrial Museum's heavy horses

I spent two weeks on work experience which was organised through school and gave pupils practical experience in the world of work.

As a farmer’s daughter I was confident around large animals, I could ride horses and understood basic animal husbandry, though I had never worked heavy horses. It was an incredibly exciting opportunity which changed my life dramatically. I enjoyed the two weeks working with the horses so much that I decided to become a volunteer.

Keeper Andrew Wilson with Norman), head keeper Pete Kawczuk with Barrel, Kate with Henry and David Rawnsley with William

The museum was only a 20 minutes’ walk from where I lived which enabled me to spend any spare time I had - weekends and school holidays - working alongside the experienced horse keepers.

In 1997, when I turned 16, I got casual employment with Bradford Council at Horses at Work. I remember feeling very lucky to be getting paid for doing something I loved. This was the beginning of a steep but intoxicating learning curve. I learnt to drive a single horse on various vehicles and implements, then progressed to driving a pair of horses, slowly becoming a competent member of a small team of horse keepers who were passionate and dedicated to what Horses at Work represented. After a few years as a casual, I got full time employment and remained with the horses until 2004 when I joined West Yorkshire Police and became a police officer.

Kate as Robin Hood and Jenny Windsor as Maid Marian, with William the horse, 2002

I worked with six different horses during my time at the museum: Norman, William, Henry, Rusty, Barrel and Nobel. They were all Shire horses except Henry, who was our only Clydesdale. I remember when Henry first came to us, it took some time for him to get use to our Yorkshire twang as the horses worked predominately on voice commands and Henry came from Scotland, trained by a broad Scotsman, and not used to our accent.

Being a horse keeper was hard and diverse work. As well as the obvious day to day care of the horses, there were many roles which made each day different and exciting. The museum was very popular with schools and visitors, and we were responsible for supplying two daily educational demonstrations followed by horse drawn tram rides, which were always very busy and made the museum a top attraction.

Kate with Henry, Christmas 2003

Kate with Henry, Christmas 2003

During the summer months we had a contract with Bradford Council and watered the town centre hanging baskets three times a week. The horses would pull a water bowser into town, and we would spend the day watering the flowers and interacting with the public. We also had a second contract collecting litter in Bradford town centre, this was a year-round job and during the summer it was not unusual to see two teams of horses in Bradford town centre, one on the water bowser and the second pulling the tip cart collecting the rubbish. It was from these two paid contracts that the horses were able to earn their own keep.

Shires from Bradford Industrial Museum taking part in the city's Christmas Parade, 2009

Horses at Work was exactly that. We took on various jobs throughout the year so the horses could contribute to their keep. We would do timbering at St Ives Estate in Bingley, we’d pull barges on the canal at Saltaire, we regularly worked at York Railway Museum and did countless yearly shows, galas and parades using our various restored horse drawn vehicles. My favourite show was our yearly appearance at The Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate where we would enter horses in the single and pair classes.

Kate with barrel at the Great Yorkshire Show

The horses could also be hired for weddings and funerals, for school visits, filming, and anything perceivably possible. I recall the horses being involved in the grand opening of the Nuffield gym on Otley Road in Guiseley. The building was historically an old tram depot erected in the early 1900s and we were asked to open the gym using the Victorian double decker omnibus which was always very impactive.

Our number one priority had to be the museum. The horses were the main public draw to Bradford Industrial Museum and brought people into of city from all over the country. The horses had to work hard but took pleasure in what they did. Like us, the horses got holidays from time to time, they would spend a few weeks relaxing out in the pasture at Harewood House.

Noble and Henry at Bradford Industrial Museum 2003

All the horses had their own characters, along with their strengths and weaknesses. Norman was our crowd pleaser and was only two inches off the world record in height but was a gentle giant who was patient, and very good with the public. Norman could also be lazy and much preferred the limelight to hard work. I grew very attached to each of the horses and built a strong bond of trust which allowed me to ask them to do a wide range of different tasks such as working in a busy town centre surrounded by traffic and members of the public to the contrasting task of ploughing a field in a rural environment.

I was and always will be very proud of what we were doing with the horses. I look back on my time working with them as magical, even on a cold wet day in February the horses were eager to please and it would be a joy taking them out to work.

Norman, aged 17, retired i 2006 after 14 years service

I was heartbroken to leave Horses at Work and even now I wish I could have stayed on and spent more time working with the horses. In hindsight it was the right decision as in 2011 Bradford Council made the short-sighted decision to axe Horses at Work. I truly believe that if managed properly, working horses at the museum can earn enough money to break even and do not require vast amounts of council funding. The heavy horses were the pride of Bradford, but now they are now lost forever, only existing in photographs, the memories of those who worked with them, and the countless members of public they inspired and to whom they gave endless joy.