18 May 2016

Return of Royce Cart II


Three generations of the Royce family, the Mayor of Geraldton and representatives from the Greenough Regional Prison, the media and the Community Group of Greenough gathered at the museum on 13th May to welcome back the Royce cart. Restoration was undertaken at the Greenough Regional Prison under the supervision of Max Royce, grandson of the cart's maker. They have done a magnificent job and the beautifully restored cart is now on display in the Community Shed at the museum.

11 May 2016

Return of Royce cart

Back in November 2015 the Royce tip-cart was removed from this museum, but for a good cause. The cart was taken to the Greenough Regional Prison to be restored. What makes this project really special, is that the man supervising the restoration, Max Royce, is the grandson of the man who built the cart.
The cart was made by Howard Maxwell Royce at "Koobabby", near Moora in 1930 using adze, broad axe and cross-cut saw. It was a spare time job, that took over a year to complete. Local timbers from Coorow and Moora were used for the wheels and the steel tyres were forged at the local blacksmith at Coorow. The Depression forced the Royce family to move to Greenough in 1936, where the dray was used to haul produce from their farm to market.
In the late 60s the cart was donated to what was then the Wonga Park Folk Museum. For over 45 years it stood outside in the Machinery Yard slowly deteriorating.
The exciting news is that the restored cart will be returning to this museum on Friday.