Colyton wheelwright from Honiton awarded MBE in Queen's Birthday Honours

Colyton's master wheelwright Greg Rowland has been awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Mr Rowland, aged 52, from Honiton, said he was "humbled" to be recognised for services to heritage crafts in the Queen's Platinum Jubilee year. 

He runs Mike Rowland & Son Wheelwrights in Colyton, founded by his father in 1964. The family business is one of very few remaining in the country using traditional methods to make and fix wooden wheels. 

Their work is so highly reputed that the Queen uses the company herself – it received the Royal Warrant in 2005 and is regularly used for repairs to the royal carriages. 

They also specialise in military wheel and cannon restoration, and wooden gun carriages.

Mr Rowland trained as an apprentice under his father Mike, now aged 82, after serving as a mechanic in the British Army. 

He has a family line of wheelwrights dating back to 1331. And Mr Rowland is continuing the tradition as he is training apprentice and future sin-in-law Sam Phillips. 

Photo by Richard Austin