Anthony, the great-grandson of Liverpool carter, Cornelius Hart contemplates the May Day decorations he helped to make.
On Saturday 6th May 2017 we held our annual ‘Remembering the Liverpool Carters’ event at Museum of Liverpool. We were overwhelmed by the number of visitors who turned up to listen to talks and join in with our flower-making activities.
‘Waiting’ dressed in the traditional May Day flowers.
At the end of the afternoon we walked round to our monument to the Liverpool work horse, ‘Waiting,’ and decorated him with flower garlands in the May Day tradition. He looked spectacular!
The project on the Liverpool Carters didn’t end with the raising of our monument in 2010. We are still receiving stories, photographs and donations relating to this important profession.
Last year I was contacted by the Hart family. Cornelius Hart had sadly passed away but he had had a passion for horses throughout his life. He started as a pony lad when he was 14, working in the evenings after school to deliver wood chips to people’s houses. Late he became a bin man on the horse-drawn wagons. His passion continued after the carters were phased out and he showed horses at many local parades and shows. His family donated his beautifully kept horse gears (by R. Lunt, and Mashiter of Birkenhead), rosettes and photographs, and a set of his flowers and wires that he used for decorating the horses.
Four generations of the Hart family attended the ‘Remembering the Liverpool Carters’ event: Mrs Hart, Cornelius’s wife, one of his daughters, three granddaughters and his lovely great-grandson, Anthony
This is a lovely personal collection and it was wonderful to have four generations of the Hart family with us on Saturday to take part in the event.