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Late 19th Century.

Heavy work harness.

This kind of harness (right) was in use from the beginning of the 19th century until the middle of the 20th for horses who had to work with heavy carts on the land or in towns. The broadly padded saddle, with its channel for a ridge chain carrying the shafts, gave plenty of load-bearing surface to save the horse's back.

The museum also has a pit pony saddle of similar type (below left), which was found in a peat bog by Mr Douglas Kent. Mr Kent was taking some boys camping near Middleton in Teesdale, and as they dug into the peat to sink their "loo" they came upon a perfectly preserved saddle only a few inches below the surface - only the horsehair had gone. A brass disc with the maker's name responded to cleaning: he was J W Walton of Middleton.

Compare these heavy saddles with the plain backband used with the snigging horse (below right). He wears the same simple harness as a plough horse. Neither of those jobs requires the horse to bear any weight on his back. These saddles however are made to carry the weight of solid cart shafts.

Snigging timber.

Snigging is the term for bringing timber out of woodland with horses. An energetic, intelligent horse or cob is required. Even now, some estates in Cumbria use forestry workers who have their own Dales or Fell cobs to bring timber out of awkward places. The horses do less damage than machinery and can often be trusted on a known run to take a tree out solo; it would be a clever tractor that could do the same!

Coaching and the Hotel Trade

Yet another Wilson - William – was lessee of the Keswick Hotel from 1884 to 1900. In 1885 he wrote a pamphlet called Coaching Past and Present, and his advertisement for the Hotel describes the facilities, including telegraph and telephone:

"Adjoining the Railway Station and Connected by a Corridor.

"Overlooking the New Fitz Park.

"Tennis Courts, Post Horses and Mountain Ponies."

Richard Rigg of Windermere ran Mail coaches using three horses and the service continued into the 1920s. Penrith too had horsedrawn coaches running out to Ullswater as a tourist attraction until 1910 (Palmer). Richardson quotes Lady E M Ascroft who recalled riding hired ponies from the Grasmere Prince of Wales Hotel as a child in 1886. They were small, brown, surefooted and capable of picking their way over the roughest country.