Sleighs have become closely associated with recreation, but to the people of early Bradford, they were about more than jingle bells and joyful rides through a snow-hushed landscape.
Sleighs provided a vital conveyance once the world was draped in white and roads were all but impassable. Attending church, shopping, schooling, socializing, delivering mail — all were made possible by sleighs.
Sleighs, simply put, were a necessity.
Sleighs have been with us for many centuries, and by the 19th century had developed into two basic forms: sleigh and cutter.
Typical sleighs were heavily constructed with more consideration given to practicality and stability than to luxury or speed. Most had two long runners, but the bobsleigh had four — two sets, one behind the other — allowing it to turn more sharply.
Much smaller than a sleigh, a cutter was a lightweight vehicle pulled by a single horse. Cutters had a single seat that comfortably sat two.
Cutters were intended for leisurely driving — courting, for example — and were meant to be snug and comfortable. You’d wrap yourselves in blankets, place a heated brick at your feet for warmth and, after snapping the reins, off you’d go.
Sleighs, on the other hand, were built to accommodate a larger group — an entire family heading off to church, perhaps — as well as performing farm chores and the transport of goods.
Many families might have had both types of transportation stored away in their barns or drive sheds.
From 1910, advancing automobile technology began to slowly eat away at the importance of sleighs, but they remained a fixture of life in rural Bradford well into the 1930s.
Today, sleighs have become little more than a form of winter recreation, their past importance almost forgotten.
