Historical dray found in Wiltshire garage arrives in Llangollen

The Llangollen Railway's Heritage Group acquired the Great Western Railway horse drawn dray after £3400 was raised by railway volunteers and local supporters in just one week, enabling it to be brought to its new home, where it will be restored and used for educational purposes.

The dray was among the property of a deceased gentleman who formerly worked at the Swindon railway works. The man had purchased it direct from Swindon in the early 1960s and had stored it in his garage at his home in Royal Wootton Bassett, where it remained until rediscovered by his family earlier this year.

Peter Dickinson, one of the Heritage Groups volunteers said: "Its purpose was to deliver and collect parcels, milk churns and other goods from the surrounding towns and villages near to the Railway's stations.

"Many thousands of these carts were built before the general advent of commercial motorised traffic in the 1920s and 1930s.

"The dray is one of only four Great Western Railway drays that we know to survive, so is fairly rare."

The dray was given a ceremonial greeting when it arrived at Llangollen station by road on Saturday May, 4 where it was greeted by a wedding party, railway volunteers and visitors. It was also reacquainted with former traction, in the form of 'Hercules' a working horse from the nearby Llangollen Wharf. After photographs were taken, the dray continued its journey by road to the Llangollen Railway's preserved rural station of Carrog.

Mr Dickinson added: "The overall condition of the dray is remarkable given its age and is all down to the fact it has been stored in a garage since the 1960s.

"We hope the dray can be used as an educational tool on the preserved Llangollen Railway and be displayed publicly.

"This will involve telling the story of how the railways interfaced with the rural communities they served and the regular use of horse-power. In addition to the educational benefits, we would love to take it out to country fairs, shows and other venues to promote the Llangollen Railway and showcase the dray to a wider public audience.

"It will take on the role as a touring ambassador for the heritage line, as well as a gate guardian at our Carrog station."

The Heritage group are currently appealing to anyone who has skills working with equestrian drays like this to get in touch and assist with its restoration back to fully operational condition. These primarily include wheelwrights and anyone with experience restoring historic wooden carts. Crowdfunding is also ongoing to cover the costs of the dray's restoration and you can support by giving visiting: