King Charles I was a sickly child. He suffered from fevers and insomnia, had a speech impediment and walking difficulties that may have been rickets. Yet something wonderful has long been associated with his childhood: a rocking horse. Dating from around 1610, this toy, missing its legs and ears, is housed in the V&A Museum of Childhood in London and is believed to be one of the oldest rocking horses in the world By contrast, twins Tony and Marc Stevenson enjoyed a robust childhood in Kenya, and had an uncle, James Borthwick, who was a toy maker. “Watching him as children we thought, ‘he’s going to make us a rocking horse’, but he never did,” recalls Marc.
As young adults, perhaps still hankering for a rocking horse, Tony and Marc…