Before the Horse
The latest developments from John Tonen's Workshop
"I have been asked a few times at shows if I had anything by James of Llantrisant.
Thomas James was a Wheelwright who was born in Ponboyr, Llandysul, Carmarthenshire. His business traded as Thomas James & Sons operating at Newbridge Road Llantrisant, Glamorganshire. Until recently I had to state that I did not have anything.
Finding an Example
I eventually managed to track down a Gambo made by James on a farm in Gloucestershire.
The current owner has an interest in historic farming practice. As originally built the Gambo had shafts and was horse drawn. The owner had converted the Gambo to be drawn by Oxen replacing the shafts with a central draught pole. He has trained a team of Oxen to draw the Gambo and has demonstrated this at various shows. This can be seen on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gk4_svvTo8
Building the model
Although everything I normally model is horse drawn I decided that I would model the Gambo as it is currently rather than revert to horse drawn.
It is not always easy to determine the age of such vehicles. In the 1911 Census Thomas James is recorded as being blind. However as I stated above the business was Thomas James & Sons. The Gambo is in good condition and I assume it was probably built at some time around the First World War.
I frequently get asked how long it takes me to make such a model. This is a hobby so I do not record my time but some statistics will give an indication of the work involved. In this case
I have used –
116 nails to hold down floorboards and a front board side supports, I use model ship pins for this purpose.
I have made –
17 – 10 BA nuts and bolts – to hold the main frame and draught pole together
78 – 12 BA nuts and bolts to hold the side supports and various components of the front and rear boards.
All the nuts are of course square, as in the original.
Building an Ox Yoke
The next challenge was to make an Ox Yoke. Unlike horses which use a padded collar and harness to pull a cart, Oxen are connected to a cart by a wooden Yoke secured by bows around the neck. The yoke transmits the pull from shoulders of the Ox. A friend of mine had an incomplete Ox yoke which allowed me to obtain the necessary dimensions.
Making the yoke beam was fairly straightforward but the Ox bows were an entirely different challenge. Traditionally these would have been made by using ‘green’ wood or by steam bending. Specially shaped stone blocks or boards with pegs would have been used to make the necessary U shape. At 1/12 scale I needed a suitable method. Having made round sections for the bows I soaked these in water overnight and then boiled them in a saucepan for thirty minutes. Using a peg board jig based on traditional methods I was able to make a suitable bow after some trial and error!
This allowed me to complete the yoke.
How to display?
The question then was how to display the completed model. Most people are familiar with horse drawn transport but few are aware of the use of Oxen for draught purposes. This is unsurprising as the use of oxen had largely disappeared by the middle of the 19th Century. This was due to the need for greater farming efficiency and hence the use of horses brought about by the increasing need to feed the workers of the Industrial Revolution. My solution was employ ‘Ghost’ Oxen cut from Acrylic sheet.
Despite the fact that use of Oxen stopped a considerable time ago I find it interesting that some terms derived from use of oxen are still used in the 21st Century:
‘As strong as an Ox’ – possessing great physical strength
‘Oxbow lake’ – a piece of meandering river cut off from the main channel"
John Tonen
November 2022
