Our Brayshaw Living Wagon

Our 1930s showman's living wagon was made by Brayshaw, a carriage company in Yeadon, for a Yorkshire travelling show family of the time. It's the red one in the picture here. By the 1930s Brayshaw's were producing 'palaces on wheels' exclusively for showmen; the cost was the equivalent of between £25 - 30,000. It is an articulated trailer, and would have been pulled by their traction engine from fair to fair,  - it would usually also have been pulled behind their show - so the steam engine did lots of work. It is 20', with a living room, bedroom and now has a solid version of the travelling porch (now a kitchen.) It's heated by a multifuel stove which keeps things cosy all year round, and has a mixture of electric (12v) lighting and gas lighting. 

We've had it since 1984, when we bought it from a bagpipe maker in Laurieston who was moving to Edinburgh.  Since then it's resided at our villa garden in Gateshead, then Unthank and Greystoke Castle in Cumbria, and now is accompanying our 1947 Barker & Southern (the blue one) in Northumberland near Alnwick. In recent years it has enjoyed a thorough restoration with the dedicated input of expert carpenters and painters.