Hereford photographer Derek Evans was on hand in 1960 at the train station to witness the safe delivery of an exquisite hand-crafted gypsy caravan, or more correctly, a vardo.

The maker’s name, George Cox, is now all but lost in the mists of time. But, thanks to some dusty, scruffy scrapbooks in the archive of Hereford photographer Derek Evans we can salvage the name of this humble wheelwright, for that was, first and foremost, his profession. We know a few details about him: that, with some encouragement from his parents, he began working as an apprentice wheelwright in Hereford in 1910.

He would have been a ripe age for the battlefields of the Great War, but that detail is unknown. Somewhere along the way, his wheelwright skills evolved into creating vardoes.

He lost count of the number he made over his working life, but in 1960 George reported that he was pretty sure he was ‘the only man in Great Britain still making them’.

 One thing is for sure: he would have been in demand. Right up until the Seventies, horse-drawn caravans of the Romany community were a common sight on our roads as they travelled around following the harvest of hops, peas and other crops.

It took George Cox 12 months to make this caravan. The wheels alone are examples of exquisite craftsmanship.

His assistant, Albert Wood, was in charge of the delicate and distinctive paintwork.

The purchasers of this wagon were a Romany family from Somerset.

But he would neither name them or the price they paid.

“They don’t like that sort of thing,” said George.

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