Story of Luton's Mossman collection

The story of George Mossman, the man who created the collection of horse-drawn carriages now displayed at the Stockwood Park museum in Luton, was told to members of Dunstable and District Local History Society at their March meeting.

The speaker was Elise Naish, head of Heritage and Collections at Luton, who displayed early photos of Wellington Street, Luton, where George was born in 1908, and the butcher’s shop in Park Street where he started work. He had to deliver meat in the shop’s horse-drawn cart and this led to his life-long love of horses and horse-drawn vehicles. He began to earn a living by buying and selling horses and eventually made his base at Bury Farm at Caddington where he had stables and space for his growing collection of carriages. He employed expert coach builders to restore the old vehicles which he drove at various events, including numerous movies.

Elise told many anecdotes about his work for the cinema which included the drama Anne Of A Thousand Days, some of the Dracula series made by Hammer Films and the comedy Carry On Cowboy.

One particularly dramatic event occurred during shooting a scene at Knebworth Park for the award-winning film The Shooting Party, when many of the cast were in a vehicle driven by George. Part of the carriage snapped, throwing George to the ground, and the horses ran uncontrolled into a hedge. The actor Paul Schofield’s leg was broken and he had to be replaced. James Mason was rapidly recruited to fill the role.

Elise’s talk was followed by the society’s annual general meeting when the following were appointed: President Paul Bowes, chairman John Buckledee, vice chairman Hugh Garrod, membership secretary Jenny Dilnot, treasurer Patricia Larkman, honorary auditor Martin Wild, committee Keith Lawrence, Leslie Marsh, John Pratt, John Stevens, Rita Swift and David Underwood. David Turner is newsletter editor and Richard Hornsey takes charge of the sound system.

The history society’s next meeting will be at 7.45 on Tuesday, April 9, in the Dunstable Methodist Church hall when Kevin Varty will be using vintage equipment and hand-painted glass slides to re-create a Victorian magic lantern show.