Youngsters enjoy horse and cart ride thanks to Cogges museum

If the law had existed in 1993, this horse and cart would have made it three!

This was the occasion that the Friends of Cogges Museum headed to the countryside for a trip back in time.

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The Edwardian wagon, pulled by the Witney museum’s shire horse Boxer, rolled around country lanes in West Oxfordshire to South Leigh as part of a living history event.

On board were a dozen passengers, some in period costume, and holding the reins was Bob Morris, the Friends’ chairman.

The party stopped at St James the Great Church at South Leigh to admire the medieval wall paintings and then enjoyed afternoon tea before heading back to the museum.

The outing was one of a series of demonstrations and events with a living history theme staged by the museum that summer.

Oxford Mail photographer George Reszeter took the picture with his feet firmly on the ground, resisting an invitation to join the ride.

The history of Cogges Manor Farm can be traced back to the 13th century – the manor house was probably built for Walter de Grey, Archbishop of York.

Oxfordshire County Council bought the farm in 1974 and converted it into a museum depicting rural life in the county during the Victorian era.

It shut in 2009 when the council withdrew funding but reopened in 2011 when a charitable trust took charge, the land and buildings leased from the council at a peppercorn rent.

It is no longer a traditional museum but a recreational and educational area known as Cogges Manor Farm, where people can learn about farming, animals, food production, rural arts and crafts, local history and horticulture. It also holds regular workshops teaching children about the countryside.