For more than 250 years horses were used to move goods to
and from Liverpool docks and businesses. At their peak more than 20,000 horses
worked on the streets of Liverpool, more than in any other city outside London.
During the Second World War the Liverpool Carter's and their horses maintained
the vital link between the docks and the city, keeping food and raw materials
moving during the most difficult of times.
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| Photograph Stephen Shakeshaft |
Liverpool’s carters and their horses were famous for moving
heavier loads than was common elsewhere, yet the men also had a good reputation
for the treatment of their animals. The city’s transport system was reliant on
horses into the twentieth century, and carters could wield considerable
influence in labour disputes as a result.
A number of factors made Liverpool an unusual place for
short-distance transport, and particularly suited to heavy carting. There was
no direct railway connection to most of the dock estate, so goods had to be
carted out of the docks to warehouses or to railway goods stations, which were
usually just inland of the Dock Road. In addition, Liverpool City Council and
the Mersey Docks & Harbour Board both invested heavily in granite setts
for road surfacing, which, combined with special horse-shoes, gave horses a
powerful grip.
Carters also worked the market areas of Liverpool were fruit
and vegetables were sold in quantity, areas such as Queen Square in the city
centre. By 1904, Queens square” with exception of the Royal Court Theatre, and
half dozen hotels was devoted to the wholesale disposal of fruit and vegetables.
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| Queen Square |
Not only were there pyramids of strawberry and cherry filled
boxes, towers of tomatoes, and castles of cabbages and cauliflowers, but the
centre of the square was occupied by an ever- varying body of carters. The carters transported the goods from the
docks and to the fruit exchange in Victoria Street and to St Martins (Paddies)
Market on Cazneau Street.
As well as working within the city the carters also
travelled distances to places outside of the city such as Ormskirk, Rufford
,Preston and Manchester to collect goods
to be returned to the docks at Liverpool.
In addition carters moved all manner of items around the roads of
Liverpool, iron, coal and even furniture were all in a day’s work for the
carters and their horses.
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| This photograph shows a Southworth horse and cart loaded with seed potatoes ready for the market at either Preston or Liverpool. |
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| John Mason Removals Wavertree |
With the advent of motor vehicles the role of the carter
gradually diminished and the cart horses were retired. It took many years for
the carters of Liverpool to have the important role their trade had played in
the development of the city
acknowledged.
On 1st May 2010
Liverpool’s handful of surviving carters were present for the unveiling of a
monument which recognised the tremendous contribution made by the city’s
working horses. The ceremony at Mann Island marked the culmination of a 10-year
struggle to raise the funds for a statue dedicated to Liverpool’s hard-working
dock horses. The sculpture, "Waiting" , is so called because it shows
a dock horse waiting to set off on its next journey.
Created by equine sculptor Judy Boyt, the monument
commemorates the city’s faithful carters and their horses. They played a vital
role in carrying provisions from the docks to warehouses and shops during
Liverpool’s heyday as a commercial port. May 1 was chosen for the unveiling
because it was the traditional date of the May Day horse parades through the
city. Four heavy horses from the British Shire Horse Society– which donated
£3,000 towards the £120,000 fundraising target – were present for the ceremony,
witnessed by ex-carters and senior representatives of National Museums
Liverpool (NML). Only three of the original 10-strong group of carters who
launched the campaign are now left, and all are in their 70s and 80s. One of
them is Carters’ committee member Jimmy Doran, 78, who worked as a pony lad in
1944 and 1945. He said: “It's been a long time coming, but this makes it all
worthwhile.”
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Robert F Edwards
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