Wirksworth watercart

The town watercart, horse-drawn before WWII, either carried drinking water to houses whose piped supply was non-existant or had failed. It was mostly used on unsealed streets to lay the dust in time of drought.

Wirksworth street watercart, about 1914. Notice the "fan" of water dropping from the rear of the cart. The spray is started by a lever in the driver's right hand. Most roads in Wirksworth were not sealed until the 1930s. What part of the town can it be? Can you recognise the street? (Gillian Wall writes: I am 99% certain this is North End, just after turning left by Ian the Barber, and the first house is where the Phillips family used to live). Water-carts usually had 4 wheels (water is heavy). They were refilled at street hydrants (often in the base of street gas lamps).

Sprinkle, sprinkle Water Cart How I wonder what thou art Never can I find you nigh When the dust is deep and dry.

When the clouded sun is set And the streets with rain are wet Then you wing your little flight Sprinkling, sprinkling left and right.

And when bright my boots are shined Hands in costly kid confined Rattling down the sodden street, How you soak my hands and feet

See www.flickr.com/photos/35128489@N07/6897213773 From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith: “The men employed on the water carts work according to the state of the weather. Thus, in summer under a hot dry wind, they emerge at early morning from the vestry yards and radiate over the parishes. During wet weather some are employed in cleansing the roads, others in carting materials for the contractors who supply the building trade. These are the hands who find constant employment under one master at weekly wages ranging from eighteen to twenty-three shillings. In justice to the contractors, I must express my admiration of the carts, men, and horses used in this branch of road labour. “The accompanying illustration is a fair specimen of the modern water-cart and its accessories. The cart is, I believe, protected by a patent, and is assuredly of the most novel construction. The horse is typical of the class of animal used for the work - large and powerful, so as to stand the strain of incessant journeyings two and fro, and of the weight of water in the tank. The man is a fair type of his class, being attired in a manner peculiar to watering-men. Beyond the ability to groom and manage a well-fed docile horse, nothing approaching skilled labour is required. He sits on his perch all day long, only descending when it is necessary to refill his cart at the hydrants.”

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