Bowtop

in beautiful blue. An unusual coloured waggon, nicely decorated on traditional spoked wheels.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

St Asaph,
North Wales WoodFest

Bowtop

Lovely maroon body with cream scroll decor on rubber-tyred spoked wheels. Very tidy vardo.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Openlot - Bowtop

Red body with yellow unders. Nice example with shafts, ladder and spoked wheels.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Traditional Bowtop

with spindle racks and S steps, blending into the natural surrounds. Paintwork is green body and yellow underworks, with some nice pony art to the door and pan box. On spoked wheels.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Bowtop

Excellent example of a Bill Wright style window and door bowtop. Beautifully decorated in crimson and cream.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Openlot Bowtop "Orangimoon"

Bill Wright Styled openlot Bowtop - completely rebuilt top on restored original unders from an early Wright's bowtop. The axles are stamped 1890, there spindle boxes or racks on the body and an unusual oak leafted carving with original boars teeth on rear. decoration includes celtic scroll work to the front lower panel, this waggon was semi decorated and required the old art work removing and completely redecorating, which has been underway. Nice Bowtop

Picture courtesy of  Stef & Mi & Kevin.

Wales

Bowtop

stunning Bill Wright style, beautifully decorated in green, cream and gold leaf.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Openlot - Bowtop

Lovely green and cream openlot, well decorated, sheltering indoors.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Openlot - Bowtop

Nice in crimson and yellow, with piebald pony travelling the drom. Lovely to see.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Bowtop

window and door style, on original base with new top built 2 years ago. Working Queenie stove, shafts, pan box, carriage lamps, pneumatic tyres on artillery wheels, and well curved steps. Finished in green and cream, and very well decorated.

Picture courtesy of  Elaine.

Bowtop

window and door type. Balanced decoration, not over done, in a timeless style - painted up in maroon and cream on spoked wheels.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Unique and unusual 2-wheeled bowtop

- built completely from scratch on flat cart setup.
Completed June 2005.

Fits horse 15 hands. Iron-tyred 31.5" wheels. Bent shafts. Painted red with pale yellow underworks. Fully functional vehicle for 1 or 2 people or a nice addition to any collection. Dimensions: 6'2" long x 4'6" wide x 5'4" high inside. Includes sliding bed which will sleep up to a 5'10" person. May be the only one of its kind!

Courtesy of  picture owner.

Lancashire

Bowtop

window and door front, very neat and clean. Decorated in a rich deep green with spacious floral art nouveau type designs, on rubber tyres and artillery wheels.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Bowtop

- window/door front - bright and boldly painted up in yellow with unusual green floral scrolls. Straight steps, shafts and artillery wheels.

It's good to see somebody adventurously flowing colours in a different direction.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Openlot - Bowtop

classic example with stunning decoration over a crimson top and yellow unders on rubber tyres.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Large 4x4 vardo

on a rubber-tyred steel trailer chassis. Ideal continental travel wagon.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Openlot - Bowtop

- under roof. Awaiting decoration on maroon glossed body and cream unders. Should look good when decorated - be nice to see.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Barrel Top waggon

- window and door type, glossed in light green and cream. S steps with shafts - excellent example.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Reading ledge waggon

made from scratch in a modern workshop. Interesting red and white design reminiscent of heraldic shields, with cream unders and spoke wheels.

Picture courtesy of Greg at Mike Rowland Wheelwrights & Coachbuilders.

The famous writer Roald Dahl's vardo

One of his sisters acquired it in the 1950s, and Roald took it over in 1960. His children used it as a playhouse, and he wrote his books in it. One book, Danny the Champion of the World, is about a boy and his father who live in a Gypsy caravan.

Information courtesy of Mrs Dahl and the
Roald Dahl Museum.

"Shantilly"

A John Rudderham of London Showman's waggon

built in 1906 for Swales Forrest, the renowned fairground proprietor of Gravesend Kent. Decades later, having seen better days, the waggon ended up in Altringham, Cheshire in an antique dealer's back garden.

The waggon was later acquired by the well known barge folk artist Tony Lewery in 1969/1970, who moved it with the lorry and trailer in the b/w photo. It has been in North Wales since 1979 after changing hands with a waggon dealer and then being sold on, finally settling in the Welsh mountains.

Called "Shantilly", the waggon is once again under restoration and redecoration.

Special thanks to Maria Forrest and the Forrest family of  Kent, who are kindly helping with the family history, and to Tony Lewery, all of which is greatly appreciated.

Picture courtesy of  Stef & Mi and Tony Lewery.

Wales

BURTON SHOWMAN'S WAGGON BUILT BY ORTON AND SPOONER OF BURTON ON TRENT, STAFFORDSHIRE. PREVIOUSLY OWNED BY ROGER DALTRY FROM THE WHO!

Originally built about 1920 for Reuben Smith,
who sold it in 1973 to Roger Daltry. He had it restored by Alistair Campball in 1974-76. The interior of the wagon is rich in cut-glass and mahogany. The bed (at the rear) is pulled out by chrome handles beneath the sliding mirrored panels. The bed area has velvet-buttoned upholstery. There is a hostess stove with oven and surround of Dutch scenic tiles. The beautiful chromed "angel lamps" have red cranberry
cut-glass founts. The ceiling was painted by craftsman John Pockett.

Size
Width: aprox 6 ft.
Length: aprox 12 ft.
Height: aprox 12 ft.
Weight about 35 cwt.

Special qualities
It has a special compartment - a hidden safe!

Pictures courtesy of Martin.

Reading-styled vardo

finished in green and cream, with s steps.

Photos courtesy of Scott.

Contemporary vardo

Cheerfully finished in yellow and red, on wooden spoke wheels.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

A rare Square-bow

nicely painted in crimson and yellow, on rubber tyres.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Unusual waggon

painted in maroon and cream, enjoying the views.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

An early Tong of Bolton Showman's waggon

awaiting restoration, with some nice early carvings on the front panels and porch brackets.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

A Burton-type waggon

awaiting restoration.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

An early Watts waggon

Under restoration. Built on an unusual early rubber tyre assembly, with heavily carved panelling on the front.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Reading-style vardo

in dark green and cream and finished with gold leaf. Nicely shaped "S" steps. Fabulous example.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Ledge waggon

- yellow and red body with red undercarriage on traditional spoked wheels. Painted by John Pockett - an example of his early work.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

A lone monument

echos back to the golden days of the vardos. This picture rokkers a thousand words.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

"Mandylion"

Early showman built around 1910 by Henry Jones of Hereford

This waggon was once owned by the well known Buckland fairground family of Northamptonshire. In 1970 master signwriter Kenneth Bethell decorated and restored the waggon. It's now in the process of being fully restored.

Lovely interior, with heavily designed acanthus carvings and original cut glass mirrors.

Picture courtesy of  Stef & Mi.

Gypsy trolley

A beautifully restored rare Gypsy trolley, decorated by a Romani artist.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

1950s Grinders Barrow

Not a vardo, but we thought this little painted barrow was so special that we put it in the gallery - 1950s grinders barrow, fully restored and owned by Gypsy Bert (Smith). He used to sit peddling away, wearing his bowler hat and waistcoat, sharpening tools and knives, etc.

Picture courtesy of Gypsy Bert Smith.

Derbyshire

Romany's vardo 1921 - 1943.

Belonged to the famous BBC Radio broadcaster Rev George Bramwell Evens. He's most famous for his broadcasts on BBC Children's Hour in his 'Out With Romany' programmes. His young friends Muriel and Doris and his animals Raq the dog and Comma the horse accompanied him on his weekly outings, often centred on his vardo. Romany was our first natural history broadcaster, the forerunner of and inspiration for David Attenborough and David Bellamy.

Picture courtesy of Phil Shelley/Romany Society.

Cheshire

Howcroft Showman waggon

body Finished in green and gold leaf. heavily carved throughout  lovely example of howcroft of hartlepool.

Pictures courtesy of Unkn

Dunton Ledge waggon

beautifully restored to its original glory. Built in 1914 by the river kennet at crane wharf  . In full splendour and now on display in Reading's Riverside museum.

Openlot - Bowtop

dating from the 1950's. The axles have the builder's stamp Watts & Sons, Pershore and Worcester. This vardo travelled around Wexford in Ireland in the 1950s and 60s and is still in use for holidays.

Restored with new canvas, paintwork and mahogany steps. Has a pull out double bed, cupboards, drawers, and panbox at the rear. The wheels are newly built on the original axles and made from oak, ash and birch. On rubber tyres. Travels the drom with a lovely piebald.

Picture courtesy of  Kieranna.

Modern handmade bowtop

- unfinished project. Built with English ash, cedar and oak, and on modern rubber tyres.

Courtesy of picture owner.

Somerset