Railway Horses

The railway horses were stabled on the Dock. One of the handlers was a man called White, who was the landlord of the Royal Oak pub in High Street. They would pull the wagons along the line where they were needed. It was strenuous work for the horses, I've seen them fall on their knees, straining to get the fully loaded wagons to start to roll; once they started to roll, the handler would quickly unhook the chain. They also worked on the Mussel Stage. When the cockles and mussels were unloaded off the boats onto the mussel stage, they were then loaded into the railway wagons. The horses then would pull them along the Mussel Stage, to a turntable on the stage, so they could turn the wagons to go across the road into the railway yard to be transported to various destinations. It was really hard work for the animals. It's a good job those days have passed.