Some of the recent photographs have shown the early impact, 100 years ago, that the motor car had on the town with the widening of the High Street and the “loss” of the squares as a result.
But scrolling back a few more decades into the late 19th century and the turn of the 20th century the horse still remained supreme as the mode of transport and traction.
Here’s a remarkable photograph of Moor Street where a cart horse is centre stage.
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It’s being led up the street, just above the Town Arch, close to the entrance to the farrier’s yard – the sign for J.B.Dobbs’ shoeing forge is visible on the side of the building, no 17 Moor Street which was the Greyhound inn.
The forge was in the yard at the back. John Bennett Dobbs was a blacksmith and farrier in Chepstow from around 1870 and his business was managed in the 1900s by JH Cavill who eventually continued it in his own name.
Just as garages grew up around the need for the maintenance and repair of cars, it’s easy to forget how many crafts supported the use of the horse – not just the farriers for horseshoes but the saddlers and harness makers, and the coach builders, wagon makers and wheelwrights – all of whom disappeared in the wake of motorised vehicles.
Text by the curator of Chepstow Museum.
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