Mike Rowland is a

wheelwright A wheelwright is a craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright", (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker or shaper of wood) as in shipwright and arkw ...

and

coachbuilder A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...

located in

Colyton, Devon Colyton is a town in Devon, England. It is located within the East Devon local authority area, the river River Coly runs through it. It is from Seaton and from Axminster. Its population in 1991 was 2,783, reducing to 2,105 at the 2011 Censu ...

Biography

The business was established in 1964. Rowland and his son Greg run their own family-owned business together. They were awarded the Royal Warrant of Appointment in January 2005 by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

as her wheelwrights and coachbuilders. All work is still done by hand in the traditional way; that is the same since hundreds of years. For the 2011

Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. The groom was second in the line of succession to the British throne. The couple had been in a relationship since ...

, Rowlands was responsible for the maintenance of the wheels of the royal and state chariots and carriages. Rowlands also build wheels for canons and take other orders in for the construction or maintenance of carriages and coaches. Carriages are built by eye. They also supplied wheels for the Hollywood blockbuster ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

''.

References

External links

Homepage of Mike Rowland & Son

BBC News , South West's businesses kept busy by royal appointment

British royal warrant holders People from East Devon District Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Businesspeople from Devon {{UK-business-bio-stub