The firm was the shire horse stud of James Forshaw & Sons Carlton-on-Trent which had been founded in Lancashire around 1847 and moved to Nottinghamshire in 1873.

The massive and majestic shire was for many years the most effective draft animal on farms and in industry and Forshaws' stud gained an international reputation for producing some of the best pedigree stallions in the world.

In the company's heyday around 70 stallions were maintained at Carlton travelling by rail to all parts of the country to serve mares at up to ten guineas (£10.50) a time. Worldwide.

Others were sold to breeders abroad extending the Carlton bloodline to such far-flung places as Russia Sweden France Germany the USA Canada Argentina Chile and Australia.

The founder of this equine empire James Forshaw came from relatively humble stock having been born the son of a small farmer in 1840.

Working on the family farm at Eccleston the young James was quickly identified as being a keen judge of horseflesh with the uncanny ability to look at a foal and see whether it had the potential to become a champion.

It was a skill that was to underpin all his subsequent success as a horse breeder and businessman. At 19 James left the family farm and after taking work with a carrier and warehousing firm in Manchester and Bradford managed to save enough capital to launch himself in business.

In 1863 at the age of only 23 James took on the tenancy of the Queen's Head Inn at Burley-in-Wharfdale.

There with his wife Mary looking after the bar James used the stables at the back to begin trading as a horse breeder and stud farmer.

His first stallion named Matchless proved a successful and popular sire with local farmers and by the time James and his family moved to the Angel Inn at Blyth ten years later he was running a small stud of six horses.

Further successes followed and in 1878 James' reputation made him a natural choice to help in compiling the first stud book for what became the shire Horse Society.

He spent many long hours travelling to all parts of the country establishing and recording pedigrees resulting the following year in the first show of pure shires held at Birmingham. Powerful.

James exhibited each year at the show until his death in 1908 winning Supreme Champion for the first time in 1882 with his stallion Bar None - a horse renowned for its powerful hindquarters and deep shoulders both of which desirable traits it passed on to the 1 0 foals it sired.

After buying the farm premises at Carlton-on-Trent in 1888 his business expanded and succeeded over the next 50 years beyond his wildest dreams.

The farm was located close to the railway station at Carlton which with its specially constructed loop line and loading dock proved ideal for transporting the horses to shows sales or to the venues of their annual studding trips.

The farm buildings were extended to suit James' needs (at a cost of some £15 0 with accommodation for up to 70 horses in large airy loose boxes ranged beside a long corridor for exercising in wet and frosty weather.

It became the first and only commercial shire stallion headquarters to be purpose-built in this country. By the end of the century the stud covered some 205 acres growing its own hay and pumping its own water.

Stallions from Forshaw's stud were sent by rail to fairs all over the country where by means of pre-booking and payment of up to 10gns they could be hired to cover mares brought in by local farmers.

By this method using a champion sire of known pedigree the farmers hoped to breed good strong horses which would produce good work for years to come.

Following James Forshaw's death in 1908 the business was continued with equal success by his sons Thomas and James. The first world war with the increased demand for food production on farms at home gave additional work to businesses such as Forshaws and by the time the second world war broke out in 1939 the stud was maintaining up to 75 pedigree shire stallions.

With the onset of wartime rationing however it became impossible to feed the horses properly and a number had to be destroyed.

About 50 more were sold at a fraction of their true value and the total loss to the Forshaw family was calculated at around £60 0 By the end of the war only ten horses remained at the stud and it was evident that closure could not be avoided.

August 1947 brought to an end almost 60 years of successful trading in the district. But the name of Forshaw did not vanish. The buildings and land at Carlton were purchased by another member of the family Richard Forshaw who continued to operate them as a mixed arable farm for another 24 years.

He even continued to use shire horses for farm work until the early Fifties. The farm was finally sold out of the Forshaw family in 1971 when it was acquired by a neighbouring landowner.

Still the name of James Forshaw & Sons lives on. In 1988 James Forshaw's great-grandson Mr Fred Forshaw took the name for his computer consultancy business based in Caunton.

And just a few weeks ago Mr Forshaw an avid collector of family memorabilia completed a final link with his illustrious forbears by acquiring a painting of his great-grandfather's supreme champion stallion of 1882 Bar None.

He is pictured with his treasure painted by the American artist Lou Burk in 1889. For those who would like to learn more about the Forshaw family and the Carlton stud a book entitled The Four Oaks by Keith Chivers was published three years ago.