A WILTSHIRE brewery showcased its talents at the Lord Mayor’s show in London last Saturday.

The Wadworth dray made up third place in the procession as the brewery employs the only Master Cooper in the country, and the new Lord Mayor Ian Linder is a Member of the Worshipful Company of Coopers.

Wadworth’s cooper Alastair Simms was carried on the back of the dray with some of his barrels in various stages of production.

“It was a great honour to be taking part in the procession and displaying some of the tools of my trade,” he said.

“I was working on some of the quieter aspects of barrel making, but I didn’t do anything too noisy as I didn’t want to frighten the horses.”

The dray was pulled through the City of London by dark bay Shire horses, five-year-old Max and 12-year-old Royal.

Head horseman Barry Petherick said the horses would be well rewarded for their efforts with plenty of apples, carrots and mints.

The dray was specially prepared for the show with a new sign painted by the Wadworth signwriting team depicting the Coat of Arms of the Worshipful Company of Coopers, surrounded by the trademarks of the Devizes-based Wadworth brews.