It's been 12 months since the familiar clomp of hooves returned to Chalford. David Clensy visits the Cotwold village to see how Teddy the donkey is getting on as the latest in a long line of four-legged delivery boys. Pictures: Clint Randall

I t's a timeless sight, as the head-bowed donkey climbs the steep lanes of Chalford, his panniers overflowing with loaves and groceries.

For the good folk of the Gloucestershire village who are old enough to remember the 1930s, it is a sight that must nostalgically transport them to their childhood, when donkeys were regularly used to deliver goods up the arduous Cotswold hills.

Few people noticed the donkeys disappearing from the landscape, as villagers focused on surviving the dark days of World War II, but now the loveable beasts of burden are back – or at least, one of them is, in the form of Teddy, the uncomplaining donkey who has spent the past 12 months delivering groceries around the village.

With his big, melancholy eyes, Teddy has become everyone's best friend in Chalford. As he celebrates his first anniversary in the village, his weekly rounds are regularly broken by the friendly petting of locals, and he gets his fair share of carrots slipped to him by way of a tip.

The idea to bring donkeys back to the lanes of Chalford came to Anna Usborne when she returned home after eight years living in Spain.

"You see a place differently when you've been living away for a long time," the 34-year-old sculptor explains, as she leads Teddy by the reins.

"You become more romantic, I suppose. When you're growing up in a beautiful place like this, you naturally take it all a bit for granted. But when I came back, I knew I'd never find a nicer place to live.

"I wanted to give something back to the village, to keep its traditions alive. A few decades ago, the High Street used to be a busy, bustling place, with lots of different shops, but each of them has disappeared. Now there's only one shop left – the village grocery store and post office.

"It struck me that we would be much poorer as a community if we lost our final shop, because it would also mean our High Street – the great meeting place in the village – would become just another residential street, and the community would be less vibrant as a result."

Anna's stroke of genius was to realise that bringing back the village donkey could help to bring the community together, as well as protect the village store.

"I'd grown up seeing old photographs and hearing stories about the donkeys that were once used for deliveries. Every shop on the High Street would have its own donkey, and the animals would even be used to carry coal up to the houses from the canal wharf down in the valley.

"The donkeys were, and had for a long time been, a big part of the community's life. I realised that bringing back this element of the village, could make a huge difference.

"I was more than happy to take on the job of looking after the village donkey. After all, what could be nicer than living here and leading a donkey up and down the lanes every Saturday morning?"

With the help of community donations, Anna was able to raise enough cash to buy Teddy.

"I got him from a beach donkey dealer in Camarthen, in Wales, with the help of the donkey sanctuary – who checked him out to make sure he was physically up to the job and that he had the right temperament to be around members of the public.

"I also bought another donkey, called Chester, at the same time. He lives on my farm with Teddy, but is too small to make deliveries. I just got him as a companion to Teddy, because donkeys get lonely if they don't have other donkeys around."

Anna and Teddy have been welcomed back to the village with open arms.

"We deliver bread, croissants and newspapers from the village stores to many of the homes in the village.

"When we first started the service, the national newspapers made a big deal of the idea that we were there to deliver essential supplies to the poor folk living at the top of this steep hill that's inaccessible to cars.

"Actually, it's not like that at all. People live on top of the hill because they want to live there – because it's a beautiful place.

"A loaf and a croissant from Teddy every Saturday won't keep them going without another trip to the shops. But we give them an impetus to support the local village store, even if it's only a newspaper and a loaf once a week.

"We don't charge for the service, we just ask for a donation. And we certainly don't deliver only to the folk on top of the hill. We take the groceries all around the village.

"Lots of people love it. Every Saturday morning all the children in the village are excited, because they know Teddy is on his way with their breakfast. I mean, how magical is that for a child?"

But not everyone has been quite so enthusiastic.

"Some of the older folk, who remember the original donkeys back in the 1930s, have asked 'Why would you want to go back to the dark ages? You must be mad'.

"But then, we've also had lots who have said it's lovely to see them back in Chalford.

I had one particularly nice letter from an old lady who used to come to Chalford for her summer holidays in the 1930s, saying what lovely memories she had of the donkeys and how wonderful she thinks it is that we've brought them back.

"I think it's important the people of Chalford support their local shop, otherwise it's likely to go the same way as all the other shops that were once on the High Street here. I think bringing the donkey back is a great way of doing that – because it encourages people to buy locally and reminds them of the importance of village life.

"It's also a green initiative – with every home delivery making one less car journey each Saturday.

"For me, it's sort of an extension of my art," Anna says. "I like to think being an artist isn't just about working away on a piece of abstract sculpture in my workshop. It's about bringing something to the community.

"For Teddy, it's an opportunity to get out and about once a week and meet people.

"Far from being a beast of burden, he's actually rather spoilt. Everyone makes a fuss of him, and we have little wicker panniers for the loaves, so he's really not carrying much weight at all."

Anna is now looking for other volunteers who can share the project with her, and is also keen to involve local schools in the scheme.

"It would be nice to open it out a bit, so it's not just something I do alone," she says. "I don't mean that I want a break from it, but I know people will love doing it, and I really don't want to keep the pleasure of taking Teddy for a walk entirely to myself."

For more information on how you can volunteer your services to the Chalford Donkey Project, visit the website at www.chalforddonkeyproject.blogspot.com