History of
The Rocking Horse Works

The First Rocking Horse, 1986

Our very first rocking horse was made in 1986, for a little girl of five named Phillipa Stoke. Phillipa's father Jeremy, a lifelong friend and at the time chairman of Maclaren pushchairs, had noticed the fine carpentry skills used in restoring wooden narrow boats, and Alison's fine art skills in painting intricate designs onto them. He suggested combining those skills to make a rocking horse for his daughter's birthday. Phillipa and the family instantly fell in love with it, and soon we were making horses for many of Jeremy's friends' children. The Rocking Horse Works was born.

At the time we were living aboard Heather Bell, a 72-foot wooden narrow boat we had converted so that the back half was living quarters with a traditional hand-painted boater's cabin, and the front half a canvas-covered workshop for the fledgling business. We collected timber from our local wood yard on the roof of our old Land Rover, so much so that planks had to double as furniture inside the boat before being transformed into rocking horses.

Life on the Canals

We began travelling the English canal system and led a very charmed existence, exploring the country, pulling up at canalside inns and forest clearings for our workplace. As orders continued to flow in, we found that Heather Bell was no longer large enough to cope with demand. After much searching, we found a wonderful workshop in a large factory on Leopold Street in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter. This workshop is featured in our logo and letterhead, still used today.

We really enjoyed working in the hustle and bustle of the Jewellery Quarter, a thriving area of skilled craftsmen. We made many friends and contacts and soon discovered Walsall, the heart of the English leather trade. This was extremely useful as we were now making fine saddles and bridles for our increasingly popular horses. To this day, we thank our time in Walsall for the quality of our leather craftsmanship.

The Prince's Trust & Early Exhibitions

At the age of 25, Alison applied for the Prince's Youth Business Trust. As well as providing a grant for further development, the Prince's Trust were very supportive, helping us develop our export market and encouraging us to attend exhibitions and shows. Our very first exhibition was at the NEC in Birmingham and went extremely well. Alison had the chance to meet Prince Charles in person, an encounter recorded live for BBC Radio 4. He was very interested in our progress and had many questions.

We went on to attend the Olympia Toy Fair, the NEC Autumn Gift Fair, the Harrogate Toy Fair and many craft shows at historic locations throughout the UK, selling many horses and building contacts that would shape the business for years to come.

Moving to Shropshire

The next major chapter was the birth of our daughter, Heather Bell Joan Smith, named after two of our narrow boats. For a time after Heather was born, we moored beneath Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham, using the motorway shelter as an outdoor carving and painting space. It quickly became apparent, though, that we needed a footing on land to expand the business and give our daughter a more permanent home.

Combining our love of the canals with the need for stability, we found Tyrley Lock Cottage on the Shropshire Union Canal through a British Waterways list. During the transitional months, we continued commuting to Birmingham whilst our sitting room doubled as a painting studio. We soon found a workshop just across the road in a spacious barn on a charming local farm, with views of the Shropshire hills. It was here we welcomed our first international customers, Mr and Mrs Abikura from Japan, who chose two extra large deluxe mahogany horses and returned home very proud owners.

We continued to grow, moving through several workshops in the area before eventually finding a spectacular Victorian newspaper printing works in Newport. Three floors of high ceilings, glass roof and huge bay windows gave Alison the perfect painting studio and the team room to breathe. It was here we redesigned our entire horse range, commissioned professional photography, and launched a glossy new brochure. The internet was growing rapidly and our international sales grew with it.

Tyrley Chapel Showroom

The next phase was separating workshop from showroom. We wanted a beautiful space to display our horses in a shop-like setting, whilst keeping a separate manufacturing premises, both open to the public. The opportunity arose to rent Tyrley Chapel, just 100 metres from our cottage. We restored the derelict chapel to its former glory and began filling it with our beautiful horses. Locals were amazed to step into this Victorian-style grotto of rocking horses, lit up for the first time in years. Manufacture was spread across three workshops within ten miles of the chapel, giving customers the choice of observing craftsmen at work or experiencing the showroom tranquillity.

That arrangement served us and our customers well for seven years. Today, from our workshop at Unit 1 Walkmill Business Park in Market Drayton, we continue making and restoring rocking horses with the same passion that began on Heather Bell all those years ago. You are welcome to visit us at any time.