Teenager hopes to become wheelwright apprentice

Sophie, 15, aims to break into the male-dominated wheelwright trade

A teenage girl is hoping to enter the male-dominated ranks of the wheelwrights - specialist craft workers who make wooden wheels.

The trade was originally established to look after chariots, carts and gun carriages, but now the main focus is on veteran cars.

Sophie, 15, is helping wheelwright Daniel Garner at his workshop on the Revesby Estate in Lincolnshire.

He plans to take her on as an apprentice and put her through a joinery qualification at a local college.

Secure future

Mr Garner, 47, said the job of a wheelwright had developed over hundreds of years.

"Any wooden wheels, from the days of the chariot through to your haywains, your horse-drawn vehicles, right the way up to your vintage and veteran cars which will take you up to the late 1920s or early 1930s."

He was hopeful there was a secure future for the business.

"There's always cars and vehicles coming out of storage and people are having them restored," he said.

"We're also going through the stage of the early restorations which were done in the 60s and 70s and are now having new wheels again."

The Worshipful Company of Wheelwrights estimated there were about 25 working wheelwrights but not all were fully employed.

The organisation said it was not aware of any female wheelwrights.

Daniel Garner has been a wheelwright for 25 years, following in his father's footsteps

Sophie said she was excited to be working alongside Mr Garner as she loved manual work.

"Being a wheelwright is more like hands work, rather than being in a classroom so I enjoy that more," she said.

"I like working with different types of wood and tools."

Sophie's love of horses also attracted her to the craft.

"The carriages interest me and the history behind them and what got me interested in the carriages was the horses."

Mr Garner was full of praise for his young trainee and described her as "very, very interested" and "very motivated".

"She's very much a hands-on sort of person and just wants to get involved, to be honest," he said. "Not every child wants to sit in front of a computer."

Mr Garner hopes to establish a bespoke wheelwright apprenticeship for Sophie, but, failing that, will send her to Lincoln College for a bench joinery qualification.

Robert Hadfield of the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain says wheelwrights play a vital role

Several members of the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain recently paid a visit to Mr Garner's workshop.

Chairman, Robert Hadfield, 68, said: "We can't be without Daniel because there aren't many people around who could rebuild wooden wheels of the cars that we have, so we need Daniel as much as he needs us."

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