A big thanks to Phil and Richard of BullBarrows for having us up for a tour of the factory and discussion on...wheelbarrows! After all the Brexit uncertainty it was great to see these guys in the heart of UK manufacturing, making parts for car companies, photographic accessories and a host of garden tools including some amazing quality wheelbarrows.

Friday is a big day for the invention, iTip Wheelbarrow Handles, as the team take part in the Channel 4 show. The hope is to gain orders for their rotating wheelbarrow handles. Tune in at 5.30pm on Channel 4.....Here is the Radio Times link here

This video shows the development of the universal joint for connecting the handles to the arms. The key point was to allow the handles to be used with almost any wheelbarrow design.

Wheelbarrows as a design have been around for a long time. An early Han Dynasty wall shows Chinese labourers struggling with a load using a single free wheeling platform already not far from our present day concepts. These were used to move around weapons and people! In some, sails were used to help momentum, although it would be interesting to experiment with how stable this would be...it would be more suitable for medium distance travel than around a building site In Ancient Greece they were used to move building materials. Medieval Europe saw the first ones in around the year...

Harry Townsend is a keen gardener and has appeared on Radio helping field questions on various gardening programs. He has also pushed a wheelbarrow across New Zealand for a very good reason. He set up the charity Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund in 1999 after his wife Myfanwy died of Melanoma. He has since dedicated his waking hours to raising awareness and as much money as possible to help prevent this cancer destroying other lives and families. In 2004 Harry walked 800 miles in 68 days, from one end of the North Island of New Zealand to the other with...