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"HORSE & CART" |
the sight of a horse and cart clopping slowly down the road
was common-most things were delivered or collected in this way.
Huge powerful Shire Horses pulled the brewers drays loaded
with barrels of beer, I remember the coal cart with its lumpy
bags. Then there was the open cart, which collected the rubbish
and the chariot shaped vehicle of the milkman, pulled by a pony.
It carried a churn or two of fresh milk with the metal measures
and the cans the milk was sold in, hung round the sides clanking
as the milkman passed by, He would stop and dole out a measure
of milk for you into a can, or you own jug before plodding off
on his rounds. Summer saw the arrival of the ice cart, which
delivered huge blocks to the butchers and to the sweetshops that
made ice cream. The baker had a covered cart with high sides,
drawn by a small horse. As you went up to it your nostrils
would be filled with the heavenly smell of freshly baked
bread and as the baker handed you your loaf, it was often
still warm from the oven Then there were the handcarts:
Fishmongers had big flat ones, drawn by a small donkey or
horse, and piled up high with sprats or other fish. Housewives
would go out into the road with their plates on which he
would weigh out a pound of fish. Even what the horses left
behind was useful. Manure was quickly scraped up with a
bucket and shovel by those gardeners eager to give their
rose bushes a boost.
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