Meet the Yorkshire grandfather who has lovingly handcrafted thousands of rocking horses to revive a lost art

Grandfather Anthony Dew only set out to make one, building an empire over nearly 50 years that's since grown to global proportions.

Soon the company he founded, The Rocking Horse Shop in Fangfoss near York, is to turn out its 50,000th creation.

Each horse is a treasured possession, bringing joy to a child and across generations. To Mr Dew, there's something special about carving imaginations.

"Each horse will still be there, rocking along, long after I'm gone," the now 74-year-old said.

"Those that are old and battered, we put them back together again. They are passed down the generations, on and on.

"It's very simple. There's no complicated mechanisms, no batteries that run out. In your imagination, you can ride anywhere."

'A strange and ugly looking thing'

It was for Prince Charles l that the first rocking horse was made. A sickly child, it was designed partly as an exercise machine, and partly to teach him to ride.

Soon, their popularity grew, until a heyday in the Victorian era where there were more than 200 rocking horse makers in London alone.

When Mr Dew came to the craft, few makers remained. In 1976 he set out to make one, a "strange and quite ugly looking thing", but it was to spark inspiration.

He adapted and learned, taking the finished horses to shows, where he was only asked about how they were made.

So he started selling the plans, and packs and accessories, growing in reputation and design.

In the early 2000s The Rocking Horse Shop was commissioned by a London artist to make a 5m horse named Big Bertie - followed by Bigger Bertie at 9m long - the largest in the world. There have been replicas of that first one for Prince Charles l, housed in the V&A Museum.

A team of artists and carvers

Now in a purpose built workshop in Fangfoss, a team of 10 specialists are at work. There's joinery and woodwork, painting and varnishing, and carving with new owner James, who took over the business with fellow director Rebecca when Mr Dew officially retired in 2015.

Then there are bridles and miniature saddles to be made, beautifully crafted in a leather workshop; hair, manes and tails. There is a joy, said Mr Dew, to making things by hand, and over lockdown he kept himself busy making gifts for family and friends.

"A lot of the horse's character and personality comes through when it's carved," he said.

"The end result is something that children are constantly delighted by. It might strike people as a bit old fashioned, but they are as played with now as they always have been."

Last year Mr Dew collaborated with the team to produce and publish two books: The Complete Rocking-Horse Maker 2, distilling 50 years of devotion and with a lavishly illustrated manual, and Making it with Rocking-Horses, detailing the revival of the craft.

Tradition passed on

As The Rocking Horse Shop looks set to serve its 50,000th customer this autumn, Mr Dew is thankful the tradition, founded on his ideas nearly 50 years ago, lives on.

His own daughters were "chief testers" for those first horses, he said, while it is "compulsory" to have one in the house for his six grandchildren, aged three to 11.

"When we started it seemed as if everybody knew about rocking horses, and liked them, but nobody was making them," he said. "It seemed like a nice thing to do.

"We thought we would try and get good at this one thing. It turned out to be really lovely. "That feeling, to be involved with something really rather special, has never gone away."

From tiny horses - to the world's biggest

Finished horses, plans and packs with prepared timber and accessories all originating in Yorkshire, have been shipped worldwide to more than 20 countries, creating a global herd.

Mr Dew helped develop more than 18 different designs, from little rockers for toddlers to carved steeds even suitable for adults. For the home woodworker, he created laminated designs, which are easier to make and less expensive.

Before retiring, he drew up designs for a simple chair rocker for very small children, with interchangeable heads - horses, elephant, kangaroo or Pinocchio Rex with opening mouth.

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