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Wheelwright and carriage builder Wayne Gosset recently took on the task of restoring a 'lurry', as the proprietor of the Heritage Traditional Cabinet/Joinery Manufacturer business explained.
The lurry, also known as a lorrie or lorry, is an open horse-drawn dray used for general haulage and delivery.
Once common in Northern England, they were frequently unsprung and could be drawn either by a single horse in shafts, or more usually by teams of chain horses, driven standing from the forefront of the platform.
"My wife Dee, was checking our email when she called me in to look at a photograph that somebody had sent us to give a quote on.
"The photograph was a very sorry looking item, all that was visible were four dilapidated wheels, a rotten turntable, the summers had been cut in half and the rest of the cart was buried in a peat bog – the bog being on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides Scotland.
"We discovered that the cart originated from the Bristol Carriage and Waggon Company. The owner of the cart obtained a book with pictures of various carts they made and, after a lot of investigation and measurements, we discovered that the cart was, in fact a lurry and was capable of carrying four tons with a bed of 13ft by 6 ft, believed to date around the 1890s – very similar to that illustrated in The Bristol Wagon & Carriage Illustrated Catalogue 1900, on page 88," he explained.
The Stornoway Trust who owns the lurry, discovered that it was a very important vehicle, as it was used to carry stone from Marybank Quarry to build houses on the island.
The restored lurry is going to be on display, alongside the waterwheel in Lew Castle grounds, Isle of lewis.
Wayne continued: "The first thing we did was to take the old metalwork apart; the two halves of the turntable were rusted together, the king pin was ridged in the bolster and the boxes had seized on the axles.
"We had to cut what was left of the woodwork away from the metal. After a few hours of soaking the turntable, we managed to free the two halves. I had to cut the u-bolts away from the axels; the springs were completely rusted and crumbled away.
"The hardest part was getting the boxes off the axles, we managed to get the lynchpin out, but everything else was solid, so we had no choice left but to be ruthless. We made some plywood plates to place on the box, fitted a bolt through the centre hold of the axel and then used a jack to price the boxes off. The worst part over, we could now get on with the rebuild.
"The wheels were the first thing we built; we could then work out the height of the turntable, and managed to salvage two pieces of wood from the original cart to use.
"The turntable was very heavy and awkward to handle, it was made up of nine pieces of wood, all housed out to locate into each other and then draw bolted together. The body was made up using four summers and five cross braces, once again housed together and bolted," he said.
"We then fitted the floorboards down, these we screwed to the summers. The next task was fitting the side, head and foot rails, which were rebated, fitted over the floorboards and mitred at the corners. Finally was the headboard, this was made up using four pieces of wood braced at the back, then cut to an ornate shape with chamfered edges. I then carved the headboard with the Bristol Wagon & Carriage Works Company Limited’s name in a scrolled banner. I think a hand carved item shows more character than routered design."
Continuing the story, he said: "The headboard was bolted to the summers and finally we could see the completed lurry. After a final check to make sure that we were completely satisfied, we informed the Stornoway Trust that it was finished.
"They could hardly wait to see it – a few days later a truck turned up to take it on its journey back to Lews Castle. Where it will be on display for visitors to admire for many years to come."
For further information on restoring, repairing or purchasing carts from Wayne, please visit
