Horsing around with the Supremes

With horses, chickens, pigs, a cockerel and a cat, looking after animals at the Black Country Living Museum can be a challenge. Cathy Spencer reports

As 15-year-old William spots the gardener digging up carrots, he can’t resist sneaking over and stealing a piece of veg to chomp on.

He may sound like a cheeky teenager, but William is a shire horse weighing three-quarters of a tonne and standing two metres tall.

He works at the Black Country Living Museum, along with pony Ben, but now the museum is looking for someone to help care for them.

Handler Dianne Easthorpe said all the animals at the museum have their quirks.

“William is a lovely, very gentle horse and his main job is delivering coal to homes around the site,” she says.

“Even though some of the children are intimidated by his size, he is a favourite because they see he is just a friendly giant, although he can have his moments.

“Whatever he wants to do, we end up doing – if he decides he is going into a field at a faster pace then we have to follow.

“However, he is brilliant with children – he adores them.”

Ben, aged 14, is quite different. As a Shetland Pony he is only around 3ft 4ins tall but Dianne says he thinks he is twice that size.

“Ben was brought onto the site at one-year-old as a companion for William,” says Dianne, 46, from Wollaston.

“They are best buddies and where the little one goes, the big one follows as Ben likes to think he is in charge.

“Ben is fine while he is eating and he likes all the people who come around and give him something to eat.

“However, as soon as the treats have gone he wants rid of them.

“He is naughty but he is so cute that you can’t get cross with him.

“He doesn’t like work – as soon as he sees the harness come out he goes into a sulk. He is like a teenager as he loves sleeping and he snores quite loudly.”

At the moment there is just Dianne caring for the animals and she says the person who takes up the new job needs to be devoted.

“Every day, even Christmas Day, I have to make sure the animals are all fed and watered,” she says.

“With the horses you have to make sure the stables are kept to a good standard – I like them to be kept really clean.”

The museum also has a cockerel called Bertie Bassett and three chickens, which are nicknamed The Three Supremes. “The Three Supremes got on well, until recently when we had to send Diana away for a while because the other two are picking on her,” says Dianne.

“She started to look a bit depressed and so we got our chicken man in and he said she wasn’t eating well and needed a break from the other two.

“We also have two brown leghorn ducks and our moorhens laid nine eggs, but they only survived a few days as we think they were eaten by herons.” Tilly the cat has been with the museum for 16 years and can’t resist the fish and chips. “Tilly is so well known around the site and she always manages to find a nice fire to sit near,” says Dianne.

“She normally sleeps in the horse’s tack room but in the day you usually see her outside the fish and chip shop.

“Children can’t resist giving her a bit of fish – she must be fed at least 20 times a day.

“We believe that she used to be at one of the factories near by, one day she just turned up at the museum and has never left.” The museum’s sow Sissy has recently given birth to six piglets – and the museum is hoping Express & Star readers can come up with a name for them.

“Last year readers of the Express & Star named them all after the England football team,” says Dianne.

“It was really successful as a lot of people wanted to see Rooney and Beckham playing with a football.

“My claim to fame was that I regularly got the chance to rub Beckham’s belly – not many people can say that.”

* Can you think of a name for the new litter of pigs? If so call Fiona Carding on 0121 521 5692.