The sound of horses’ hooves will be mingling with the folk music around Barking this weekend, thanks to a heritage feature presented by Be First.

As part of the National Lottery Heritage Funded, Barking Town Heritage Project, a Victorian style horse and carriage will be on display in the town centre, to coincide with the Barking Folk Festival on Saturday, 8 June. You can meet them from 12 to 2pm, outside the Curfew Tower, opposite East Street – the focus of the project.

Simone Panayi, Be First Community Engagement Officer, explains: “We thought it would be fun to bring a horse and carriage back to Barking, like in the days of the late Victorian and Edwardian era, which is when many of the buildings in the town centre date back to.

“We thought it would be a good idea to make sure the heritage horses are around during the folk festival to add to the atmosphere, by the look of the line-up there won’t be any hip hop, but we’ve added the clip clop!”

Local residents, shoppers and festival goers will also get a chance to have their picture taken with the horse and carriage and find out how to become a Heritage Volunteer.

To find out more about the project or how to become a volunteer you can also go to https://yourcall.befirst.london/barking-heritage