UNTIL the arrival of the combustion engine more than 100 years ago, horse power came from four legs.

They were the main mode of transport and the means to transport raw materials and finished products.

Gentlemen rode them, they pulled hansom cabs and carriages and even tramcars until the arrival of steam.

For many decades, the coalman, the milkman and the rag and bone man, carried out their business around the terraced streets of East Lancashire with their horse and cart.

The fire service relied on horse power to pull their fire appliances, mounted police officers patrolled their patches on horseback and the tow paths along the canal were trodden smooth by the shire horses towing barges, laden with coal and cotton. The railways also had dozens of animals working in its goods depots.

In East Lancashire's hilly terrain, cobbles were laid on the streets, so that the horses could get a grip as they hauled their laden carts around town.

The shire horses delivering Thwaites ales to local hostelries and tied houses have been a familiar sight on the roads around Blackburn for nearly two centuries - while also winning prizes at country shows the length and breadth of England.