Table of contents for February 2023 in Old Glory

It has recently been announced that Cheffins are to stage the late Richard Vernon sale on Saturday 17 June. Cheffins MD Bill King tells us most of the steam and tractors are to be sold except the Fowler BB1 ploughing engines. In our tribute to Richard we see him on the Saturday in the Steam Plough Club section of the National Ploughing Championship in October 2018. Steam ploughing had to be abandoned on the Sunday owing to the rain. The ex-Baldwin Brothers, Perseverance Works, Wadhurst, East Sussex 1876 Howard No. 110 The Farmers Engine roundabout tackle ploughing engine was working so well. In 1928 No. 110 was purchased on behalf of Henry Ford by the much respected and under-credited Sir Percival Lea Dewhurst Perry CBE, KBE, who had recently made…

Early in the morning in the sunshine of a late April day, a number of engines were gathered in the car park of King Edward Mine at Troon, in Cornwall. They were preparing to travel down into Camborne for the 2022 Trevithick Day. Smoke drifted from their chimneys and even at such an early hour the safety valves of some of the engines were lifting, eager to depart. To the side of the car park were a late middle-aged lady and a similar-aged man of smaller stature calmly going about the business of preparing their engine. A nearby onlooker was heard to say: “Not been seen in 42 years.” The engine was a Fowler, an early one judging by its compact appearance and high stance. The gloss green paintwork gleamed;…

Historic coaches were running every half-hour on Route 090 from Victoria Coach Station to Hammersmith Lower Bus Station, whilst 1980s/90s buses operated the Airbus A1 service every half-hour via Kensington to Hammersmith Lower Bus Station. Coaches that you could ride on included 1951 Bristol LL6B half-cab with Duple bodywork in Royal Blue livery (LTA 729), the first 30ft long coach delivered to Royal Blue when the maximum permitted length was increased. It operated on express coach routes from Bournemouth, Plymouth and Penzance depots until 1963, when it passed through two Somerset bus operators on school runs before being sold for scrap. Fortunately, it was saved for preservation, being bought by its present owner from Maidenhead in 1972. Other coaches included 1951 Bristol Greyhound LWL6B with 8ft wide, 35-seat, full-fronted Eastern…

SAVE 25% Full terms and conditions can be found at shop.kelsey.co.uk/terms. Offer applies to UK subscribers only when paying by direct debit. Overseas and other offers available at shop.kelsey.co.uk/OGL23. A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR Delighted to boast that this is Britain’s best-selling magazine for steam and vintage machinery enthusiasts. If you have enjoyed this issue of Old Glory and love original style or gleaming restored machinery especially road steam, or are fascinated by Britain’s rich industrial and transport heritage then why not subscribe? You will save money on the shop price and receive every issue direct to your door. Whether you’re interested in the latest news, places to visit or black and white photography of these wonderful machines in working times, featured by top writers and photographers you’ll find it…

It was back in 1954 when I first saw steam ploughs at work in Germany. That would have been in the area of Brunswick where I lived at the time but it obviously created a major impression on me and an interest in steam which I’ve retained now for over 60 years. However, with other aspects of my life in the intervening years - marriage, children and my dentist’s business - it was not until I visited the Great Dorset Steam Fair in 1979 where I saw steam ploughing in action once again that I remembered my childhood days some 25 years previously and the steam ploughs at work at the time close to my home in Germany. When I returned home after my visit to Dorset, I advertised in…

The 2022 Steam & Vintage Rally held at Duncombe Park near Helmsley on 2-3 July brought together almost 40 engines with many manufacturers being represented. The event is organised by The Great Yorkshire Traction Engine Club, and caters for commercials, cars and tractors as well as steam, making this a traditional family day out. One of the highlights of the weekend, especially for the photographers, is the Saturday evening trip down to Helmsley market place for refreshments, with the engines passing through the estate parkland. It was great to see Jack Thwaites’ 1915 Burrell Gold Medal tractor No. 3689 Sunrise. Previously registered BP 5927, this tractor was new to A Johnson of Codmore Hill in Sussex, and was used for threshing until 1956 when it entered preservation. It has had…

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The three surviving Gordon Bennett Napiers (last seen together in 2013) – ‘The First to Wear the Green,’ raced to Brighton in suitably dramatic fashion, spitting flames and rattling windows. They owe their existence to the exuberant American press baron James Gordon Bennett Jr, publisher of the New York Herald and general bon vivant. Despite racing yachts as a younger man, Gordon Bennett never took to motor cars. Perhaps it was for publicity that he financed the first Coupe Internationale, or Gordon Bennett Cup, in 1900. The race was only to be contested by teams from the main motoring nations – France, Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, the United States and Italy. The winning country would play host the following year. There were no British entries for 1900, but…

Got a story? Contact Old Glory • Email: peterlove@madasafish.com • Tel: 01323 833125 In glorious West Sussex weather the traditional Horsham Steam & Vehicle Gathering took place at The Red Lion, Slingfold and later in the afternoon in the centre of Horsham at the Carfax Centre, where one of the largest crowds ever seen gathered together, says the editor. The exceptional weather not only brought out the crowds, but also brought out ten steamers; the largest number of engines to take part in this event for many a year and it included a number of firsts, making this event even more special. Back on the road after a major engine malfunction in 2020, was Les and Dee Searle’s 1934 Sentinel S4 No. 8933 WV4705 which was new to C Mitchell…

Got a story? Contact Old Glory • Email: peterlove@madasafish.com • Tel: 01323 833125 The month of December sees many towns up and down the country holding Christmas carnivals and parades, and Paul Ritchie visited a few in Dorset where a strong selection of local traction engines were in attendance. First up was the Blandford Forum Yuletide event on Friday 2 December when a pair of Aveling & Porter rollers and two Fowlers took centre stage. Father and son Mark and Matt Farwell from nearby Stourpaine bought along their Fowler traction engines. Mark has owned 1909 Fowler 7hp GP No. 11814 Berkshire Tariff Queen for some years now. It was named in celebration of a Government overseas hop tariff that was imposed. In its later life it worked on Burbage Wharf…

It was a great weekend at the Masham Steam Rally in mid-July that saw around 40 engines on display. Good crowds were in attendance, as was David Reed. As for the engines themselves, most manufacturers were represented, although the most numerous were those displaying the Fowler name. As would be expected, there were a couple of showman’s locomotives on view, with the Turner brothers’ 1909 Fowler A5 road locomotive No. 11108 Dreadnought catching the eye. Then came a couple of conversions which started life out as rollers. The first was Jonty & Val Hutchinson’s 1927 Fowler DNC No. 16971 Murphy, while Alex Steele had made the trip from Dunfermline in Scotland with 1928 Fowler DNB No. 17506 Little Dawn. It worked for a tar spraying company in the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire area…

The history of local fairs goes back to the 12th century when towns or cities were often granted royal charters to hold an annual fair, an event that would draw crowds from all the nearby villages and hamlets and was often held in conjunction with a local livestock market. My earliest memories are of a fair that came to a field at the eastern end of Eastbourne where I then lived on a newly-built council estate. Fairs were always exciting places full of noise, smells and twinkling lights. Money was scarce and the few pennies that jingled in the pocket of my short trousers had to be carefully spent, so one ride or a couple of goes on a hoopla stall in hope of winning a cheap toy or a…

It was moved in seven loads from Oklahoma to Bowling Green, Ohio, and its final erection took place in front of a large audience during two days at the show. The truck measures just under 42 feet long, 20 feet 5 inches wide and weighs 117 tons empty. Its tyres are 10 feet 6 inches in diameter. In early 2021, the truck was purchased from a scrap dealer by HCEA Director Larry Kotkowski, owner of Lakeside Sand & Gravel Co at Mantua, Ohio. Larry then donated the truck to the HCEA along with a working crew that joined volunteers from other companies to help dismantle, transport and re-erect the truck at its new home. The intricate project was headed by 32-year-old Sam Paterek, employee of Lakeside, who visited the machine…

Got a story?: Contributions welcomed by Derek Rayner, email: derekinvicta1915@gmail.com Only two miles from the world-famous Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota is the town of Keystone, reports Kevin Hoggett. This is the terminus of the Black Hills Central Railroad, a tourist operation running some ten miles over a former Burlington Railroad main line which, until the 1980s, ran Custer - Hill City – Deadwood and was known as the High Line. The line to Keystone was a branch off the High Line from Hill City to Keystone; the only part of the High Line itself which is still in use is a few hundred yards in Hill City station. The line has steep gradients, up to 6% (1 in 16) and operates two oil-fired…

I was so sad to hear that long-standing fair organ owner and founder of the Amersham Fair Organ Museum, Teddy Reed, died on the morning of 13 December aged 96. He attended the 6 November open day at Amersham, but went into decline soon after and by the beginning of December he was in a nursing home in Chesham. Following my December news item regarding the Science Museum selling off three tractors, we have received many communications from readers who, like me, are concerned about this course of action by the Science Museum and feel it is totally wrong. However, Paul Evans, the owner/curator of the superb Internal Fire Museum of Power, tells us that the Science Museum (who have not yet been in touch after my enquiries) placed these…

Got a story? Contact Old Glory • Email: peterlove@madasafish.com • Tel: 01323 833125 It was good to be back in Norfolk for the biggest tractor road run on Boxing Day, which started at The Angel, Larling, not far from Attleborough and Thetford, held in glorious sunny weather says the editor. For me I had not been back here since 2018 when Gavin and Jack Stammers took over from former National High Cut Champion Shuan Garrod and family who ran the event for a number of years to keep it going. The original creators of the event David Boggia and David Kidd were also here enjoying the atmosphere in the sunshine. The crowds and tractors packed in beside the booking area, opposite The Angel Inn, where they paid their £20 entry…

The traditional Brooklands New Year’s Day Classic Gathering at Weybridge, Surrey was back and a huge success, for the first time since 2020, says the editor. It’s estimated some 1,800 vehicles were to be seen here and they were still arriving at 2.30pm, when others were leaving. The event was held in dry, but overcast, conditions and contrasted from New Year’s Eve weather, when it was 40mph winds and heavy rain all though the day and night. A huge family crowd was seen in all parts of the museum and it was similar with long queues at the various food outlets and restaurants around the site. A fine line of autojumble and trade stands were here and the band and singer was in fine tune as well. Amongst the veteran,…

I t was on Sunday 5 December 2021 that 1919 Fowler No. 15430 left Cross In Hand, Heathfield, East Sussex and headed off to Staffordshire with its new owner Zack Fields-Pattinson for its long overdue major rebuild. As is well-known, the engine was new to Sturgeon Brothers of Bury Road, Stanton, Bury St Edmunds, who interestingly also used McLaren ploughing engines in their fleet. It was sold to S J & C Philp on 6 June 1947 who used the engine for not many years. Victory was sold with its sister and other engines at Cheffins’ Philp dispersal sale after Cyril Philp had passed on at Castle Hedingham, Essex on a draughty 24 June 1995. The engine was purchased by Dave Anton whose family came from East Sussex. You can…

This year was no exception, with seven days of steam out of Porthmadog from 30 October followed by three days on the equally impressive Vale of Rheidol Railway at Aberystwyth. There was also an additional two days of activity organised at the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway which sadly your author did not have time to participate in this year. The history of the 25-mile Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) is a long and complex one. Initially formed by the merger of two smaller concerns the original WHR was never a commercial success and after various guises of ownership, including a stint under the Ffestiniog Railway, the last train ran in 1937. Restoration of the line started in 1997 and took until 2011 to complete. Now a major tourist attraction in the…

The rally started at Fengate Farm in 1968 and has continued ever since thanks to Richard’s generosity. Richard hasn’t been all that well this year, but happily was seen about and is now in his 80th year. I have been lucky to have attended this event off and on since 1970. It has always set a high standard and this year’s event, the first since 2019, was better than ever. Weeting is close to the Suffolk/Norfolk border and Thetford, the hallowed land of Burrell’s of course, which farmer Richard Parrot just loves, and as always the make was very much part of this show. On display were approximately 125 full-size steamers along with miniatures, about 180 tractors and so much more. Sadly the East Anglian Traction Engine Society’s Route 66…

Taking up the theme advertised on the new trolleybuses back in 1935, a trip to ‘The Square’ was an essential part of life in this densely populated corner of north-west Kent/south-east. The cobbled Beresford Square adjacent to the main entrance to The Arsenal was criss-crossed by trams, trolleys and buses in its heyday. Finely-detailed costermonger’s carts displayed a great variety of fresh fruit and veg, beautifully arranged, with the ‘Barrow Boys’ competing for attention with their fresh bargains, whilst pints of winkles and shrimps served up in pewter pots were another temptation. In the main shopping area, Powis Street, Marks & Spencer and British Home Stores had large stores, whilst across the road in Joe Lyons you could enjoy a milky coffee and a delicious Dunkie (ring doughnut). Three large…