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The Wheelbarrow
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Although it is difficult to imagine,
the wheelbarrow was once classed as military hardware.
It was first developed over 2,000 years ago by the Chinese
army to transport heavy loads quickly and easily.
It first became apparent in Europe during the early 13th
century, but took a long time to catch on. In Covent Garden
for example, the tradesmen found it very difficult to
push the wheelbarrow over the cobbled streets, they were
more used to using a barrow to carry goods which was a
two-man, stretcher-like device with a load-bearing frame.
The Chinese wheelbarrow had two varieties - both had the
wheel directly under the load, but the Wooden Ox had two
handles at the front and the Gliding Horse had handles
at the rear - either way was pretty unstable. Yet such
was the perception of the advantage it gave over its primitive
forerunner, that the design was kept secret for many years.
The great European innovation was to put the wheel in
front of the load and the arms at the back, this made
it more stable. It also turned the design into a type
of lever, which allowed loads to be tipped out with more
ease. To this day, the builder's "navvy barrow" follows
the European design and the domestic gardening type is
more inkeeping with the original Chinese design. |
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