Those of you who find difficulty in constructing wheels should welcome this plan, but it has some features, which will pose interesting problems for the modelmaker. The body is woven from cane, and with patience this could be reproduced in miniature or wood panels could be substituted. The reindeer hide wraps add an attractive finishing touch. The sleigh is now in the collection at the Model Farm Museum near Chepstow in Gwent.

Brooke Bond had a fleet of covered vans, operated for them by Lloyds, the haulage contractors. The green painted vans were well liked by the carters for there sound design and running qualities, and were a familiar sight on London streets until 1916. This example is in the Science Museum. It is an excellent subject for a model, even for a relative beginner, because although the structure is interesting it is easy to construct and straightforward to follow on the plan.

This is a barrow of the traditional London style, many of which are still in use today. The barrows are usually hired out by the builders, who have there names carved on in several places to ensure the barrow does not go astray. The example I have measured is on display in Maidstone Carriage Museum.

This float is typical of those used in rural areas, and is simple in construction and equipment. It belongs to a farmer in Barnstaple in Devon, who had a dairy shop in the town. The wheels had been replaced by 'pneumatics', but I have shown the original wooden wheels on the plan.

Carlsberg breweries in both Denmark and Canada maintain their famous beer-waggons, which are half as large again as the English type of dray. As well as being 'exhibited' at horse shows and fairs they are used for deliveries in several Danish cities - I photographed this one in Aalborg, and prepared the drawings with the aid of a builder's specification plan. The livery is particularly attractive, being basically white, signwritten in red and green, and with a varnished "barrel end" at the rear. Because of the size of the vehicle, and to suite continental modelmakers who prefer a metric scale, this plan is drawn to 1/10th scale, and the impressive model is 23 inches long.

Carts of this style, with ventilated bodies, were used by bakers, butchers and fishmongers for their deliveries in prosperous districts. They were built and finished to nearly the same standards as private traps. This beautifully restored example is on display in the collection of Ken Jones at the Seal Sanctuary, Gweek, near Helston in Cornwall. A similar vehicle in the 1904 "Bristol Carriage Works" catalogue was described as a "London Butchers Cart", and cost £25. The body is dark blue, with mahogany louvres and brass fittings.

This beautiful little milk pram is typical of those which were used in towns all over Britain. Originally owned by Rose Farm Dairy in Fleet, it in now at the Old Kiln Museum at Tilford, near Farnham, and has been repainted in the livery of a local dairy. The plans detail the brass churn, the cans and measures. Together with the costermongers barrow this milk pram forms the start of a collection of handcarts which I intend to draw. (Sadly, this promise will not be fulfilled. John Thompson died in 1995).

The text which accompanied this plan in the "Coachbuilders and Wheelwrights Art Journal" of 1905 said of the carts that "…they are built especially strong, this on account of the rough setts with which so many of the Lancashire roads are paved, especially in the colliery districts". As no horse could be expected to hold back a load of 2 tons on a hill, the cart has nave brakes and the plan shows the mechanism in clear detail. Removable extension boards are also shown, to allow for bulky loads of coke.