Sunday 10th August 2014
Danny Howell writes ~
I grew up at The Dene, Warminster, and one of my abiding memories of my pre-teenage years, in the early 1960s, is that the little play park at The Dene featured a five-seater rocking horse and I vividly remember that its cast iron head had the wording ‘Bonny Bright Eyes’ stamped upon it. The name has resided in my mind ever since. Alas, I took no photos of it at the time (too young!) nor at any other time, and the horse sadly no longer exists. The Dene was built in 1957, so presumably the equipment in the park there (which also included two sets of swings (one set for toddlers and the other for older children), a hopscotch court made out of paving slabs, a roundabout, and a tunnel which was a couple of concrete cylinders placed together, were installed that year. Does anyone have any photos of Bonny Bright Eyes (or the park or anything else in it) at The Dene taken between 1957 and the 1970s which they can share on this website, or particular memories of rocking on Bonny Bright Eyes? If so, please contact us by emailing dannyhowellnet@gmail.com
In the meantime, a quick look on the internet reveals some references to Bonny Bright Eyes in general ~
(1) The Playground Rocking Horse Trust includes the following information about Bonny Bright Eyes rocking horses, which they record as being made by Hirst & Sons of Halifax:
“Hirst & Sons of Halifax
B Hirst and Sons were established in 1846 and are listed as an engineering company producing washing machines and mangles in 1874. These were proudly advertised as ‘being capable of being worked by a boy of twelve.’
Their principal factory seems to have been The Britannia Works, at Northgate Yard, Portland Street, Halifax.
By the 1920’s they were involved in producing sporting equipment – particularly tennis posts, court marking machines, rackets and presses. Top of the range seems to have been the “Ne Plus Ultra” All Steel Tennis Posts which were exhibited at the 1922 British Industries Fair. It was this involvement with sports ground equipment that seems to have been their route in to playground equipment.
The ‘Ne Plus Ultra’ seen on the front of their playground rocking horses was clearly in use earlier to describe their tennis posts. Rather than being a specific legend for the horse it was a more general company motto – it means ‘The highest, ultimate point of achievement which can be reached; perfection.’ It can be seen on other Hirst products.
The Hirst horse is a five seater and the large cast iron head has the name ‘Bonny Bright Eyes’ stamped along the base.
The rocking arm mechanism differs from the standard Wicksteed design as can be seen in some of the photos in the gallery. There only seems to have been one model of horse produced but a ‘rocking boat’ version was also available.
A company brochure from about 1950 descibes their horse as ‘Unequalled for smoothness and ease of working. It is the only rocking horse made fitted with double row self alligning ball bearings…which for practical purposes eliminate friction.The closest attention has been devoted to every detail of its construction and no effort has been spared to make it the finest product of its kind. Attractively finished in colours.’
Most images of Hirst playground horses seem to date from 1950s to early 1980s and this may have been their principal period of production. The company later became part of Sutcliffe Play Ltd which was formed in 1987. They continue to manufacture a wide range of modern playground equipment including small single rider horses but sadly no longer the big Hirst five seater. The company is now proud to be an employee owned partnership -“The John Lewis of playground equipment”
A long serving member of the Hirst/Sutcliffe staff tells me that the horse was still being made when Sutcliffe took over the factory in 1987. He also recalls issues with an early design for the horse’s head which included prominent ears. These however were deemed to be too dangerous if children rocked forward on to them and were modified to the rounded head shape finally used.
Relatively few Hirst horses seem to have survived in to the 21st century.”
http://playgroundrockinghorse.webs.com/manufacturers.htm
(2) A user called George has a photo of a Bonny Bright Eyes cast iron head on his Flickr page.
George’s caption reads: “This is on the top of a field gate post near to Lorton in the Lake district.”
(3) In June 2013, a seller with the user name justfairycakes, in Sittingbourne, Kent, had two Bonny Bright Eyes cast iron heads up for auction on eBay, with a starting price of £500. The description of these two items read:
“A VERY RARE PAIR OFÂ VINTAGE Â A. HIRST, “BONNY BRIGHT EYES” CAST IRON HORSES HEADS.
PRODUCED IN THE BRITANNIA WORKS, NORTH GATE YARD, PORTLAND STREET, HALIFAX IN THE 1950’s
THE ROCKING HORSE HEAD WAS ORIGINALLY FIXED ONTO A FIVE SEATER ROCKING HORSE THAT WERE IN MOST COUNCIL RECREATION GROUNDS IN THE 1950’s
THE HEAD MEASURES APPROXIMATELY 14″ LONG X 6″WIDE X 11″HIGH, EMBOSSED ON BASE “BONNY BRIGHT EYES”
IN VERY GOOD CONDITION, ORIGINAL PAINT WORK
VERY FEW A.HIRST HORSES SEEM TO HAVE SURVIVED
CAN BE SEEN ON THE ROCKING HORSES IF YOU GO TO THE PLAYGROUND ROCKING HORSE TRUST WEB SITE
COULD BE USED FOR DISPLAY IN ANY HORSE RELATED BUILDINGS OR GARDEN OR IF SOMEONE HAS THE ORIGINAL ROCKING HORSE WITHOUT A HEAD
 VERY HEAVY, PICK UP ONLY.”
