ROCKING horses are magic. For centuries they've been a children's favourite and up in Weardale, Norman Brown is continuing a tradition, making toys tough enough to play on, but beautiful enough to be heirlooms.

Norman was a master mariner who spent most of his spare time with the ship's carpenter. "Even when I had my own ship, I was always messing about with a lathe," he says.

When he left sea and took a job in Saudi Arabia, he found it hard to buy furniture, so he made his own, the way you do. And he made rocking horses.

"They're very special, each with its own expression. You never know how it's going to turn out until you start carving."

Four years ago, home from Saudi, he and wife Beryl settled in Wolsingham, where they have family connections, and started Wood'nThings. He makes all sorts of beautiful specialist furniture, designed to order, odd sized doors, draining boards, dolls' houses. But his real love are the rocking horses.

There are traditional dapple greys, a splendid chestnut mahogany one with a flaxen mane that looks just like Roy Rogers' Trigger. And the most beautiful of all is made of walnut.

Most are made from lime or tulip wood - "very easy to carve" with legs made from beech "for strength". They have traditional Victorian fixed saddles, but, if you wish, you can have a proper, removable small saddle.

And they rock not on the rockers you see in nursery rhyme books, but on a traditional swinger stand.

"Much safer," says Beryl. "Fingers and toes can get trapped under bow rockers, and children can move them round the room." The horses, however, take weeks to make. They are made of blocks with a hollow in the centre that can be a time capsule. A painted one will have ten coats of paint. Mahogony and walnut are hard to get hold of. "We only buy from reputable sources." And so, of course, the horses are not cheap.

"It's grandparents who mostly buy them," says Beryl, "But these are not toys you'll throw away. They'll last for generations."

Built to use and built to last too. Now that's a quaint old fashioned notion.

You don't outgrow them either. Many a rocking horse is secretly bought for an adult and even the medium-sized horses are strong enough to bear an adult weight, which Beryl cheerfully demonstrated at a recent display in the MetroCentre.

Horses from Weardale go all over Britain and the world. (They're on the Internet, which is a nice mix of ancient and modern) and their appeal is certainly timeless.

Norman also helps out a neighbour who needs copies of medieval toys and gadgets (If you have precise details of how to make a medieval quern, or a small grinding stone, he'd love to hear from you) and one of his most popular small toys - a little horse on wheels - is copied from a Roman design.

There is also a very foolish-looking ride-on lamb, with a great big grin. He's made of wood, with an oak, barrel-shaped body and is set on castors, and tinies love him.

"They can push themselves round all day and get into all sorts of corners," says Beryl, who has consumer-tested it on her own grandchildren. "It's very tough and toddler-proof."

And once they've outgrown the lamb, they'll be just the right age for a rocking horse.

l Wood 'n' Things, Unit 1A, Wolsingham Industrial Estate. Tel: (01388) 528898; fax: (01388) 526606; www.woodnthings.co.uk Open seven days a week, mornings only.

A happy lamb costs £40; dolls' houses, and traditional wooden toys are also available as well as hand-carved country furniture and odd-sized gates.

Rocking horse kits are available or rough-carved horses, all done, you have to supply the finishing touches.

If enough people are interested the Browns are planning weekend and evening classes in making your own rocking horse - wood, tools and materials, plus stabling provided.

Kits start at £150 for a medium horse, plus £75 for a stand. A full range of accessories are available.

Fully finished, carved, painted, polished rocking horses, complete with saddle and stand cost from around £1,200. If you order by the end of this month, they'll give you a discount and guarantee delivery by Christmas.