A Lancashire brewery is making the change from horsepower to horse power in a bid to cut its carbon footprint.
From Friday, 25 April, local deliveries from Thwaites Brewery in Blackburn are being made by their team of four shire horses, Bomber, Classic, Daniel and Royal — six years after the business stopped delivering by horse and cart.
“As a company we are looking at how to cut carbon emissions from our vehicles and this seemed a good idea,” transport operations manager Emma Green told H&H.
“It’s nice to see them [the horses] out in Blackburn again — they caused quite a crowd on their first morning back out in town.
“There were people lined up outside the brewery and they are regulary innundated with people wanting photos with them.”
From now on six local pubs and the company’s visitor centre in Blackburn will be serviced by the horses.
“Our shires compete at shows all around the country with great success and are the current national champions [turn-out champions at the National Shire Horse Show in March] , so they will fit the deliveries around their many competitions,” said Mrs Green.
The oldest horse in the team is 18-year-old Classic who is due to retire at the end of the show season.
The brewery is looking for a shire gelding to take his place, but says it has not had much success so far.
“We can’t seem to find a suitable shire who matches,” said Mrs Green.
Potential team members need to be male, 17hh to 19hh and black with four white socks.
The Thwaites team will be in action at the Horse of the Year Show, Newark and Nottinghamshire, Three Counties, the Royal, the Great Yorkshire and Bakewell shows, as well as a number of more local outings.
This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (1 May, ’08)
