INTRICATE work is underway to repaint 36 wooden horses from a Victorian Steam Galloper during a year-long restoration project.

The ‘Gallopers’, which are made of pitch pine, are being stripped back to wood, repaired and repainted in an early 1900s style.

The Steam Galloper, which dates back to 1893, is a popular attraction at Beamish Museum in County Durham, used daily by tens of thousands of visitors to the museum since it arrived in 2009.

The project, which is expected to last 12 months, is being carried out by technicians at the Regional Heritage Engineering Centre at Beamish Museum.

Once finished, the steam-powered horses will be placed back on the fairground ride in the museum’s 1900s town.

A museum spokesperson said: “We have had them for quite a while and they were in need of some work.

“The way they were painted was more of a 1930s paint work. When we re-paint them they will be in the style of 1900s.

“The colours will be more muted on the body of the horse and the brightly coloured parts will be the saddle and the saddle blanket.

“It would have been painted many, many times in its lifetime before we acquired it.

“It has had work done on it before, but this is the first time the horses have been taken back to bare wood and repainted”.