It's a bit hot in our study just now, so I'm not going to slave for long over a hot computer whose fan is making a din working overtime, and whose keyboard has become very sticky.
We went to Shelsley Walsh on Sunday to watch the hill climb (lots of pictures to follow). We were parked near this fellow visitor who appeared in a jalopy that may be of interest/amusement to AlanR. "It might look a bit rusty but it's in perfect working order" explained the visitor.
It has been a while since tractors featured here, but I recently came across this rare photo of an early driverless passenger tractor that AlanR, if he is there, will no doubt take great pleasure in identifying!
While I sort photos from a UK weekend, here's a guest entry from Wuxing Nick in Nuremberg.
He's obviously been adventuring in the forests of Bavaria, and reports as follows:
Thanks go to Nick, our mid-Europe correspondent, for today’s entry that may keep AlanR entertained, if not Dot – who is possibly still ploughing through the previous posting…
In Nick’s own words:
Hi Martin,
It‘s been a while since I sent you any tractors, and here I‘ve been a bit generous with the term. The first (above), a green MAN tractor is true-to-form, being used to shift fencing posts around a field.
The next, a memory from my childhood when all excavators were yellow and JCB - long before Caterpillar and Komatsu were so widely seen in Europe – a ‘made in England’ JCB being used for river engineering works. No idea whether JC Bamford is still British-owned?
Lastly a very specialist German forestry tractor - all-Terrain tree transport.
Greetings from Bavaria,
Nick
Thanks Nick, much appreciated, and we were sorry not to meet up with you whilst on our travels. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we see you.
If AlanR cares to comment, I’ll insert his words of wisdom below.
Thanks again to Wuxing Nick for another contribution. I wonder what AlanR will make of this tractor, which appears to be the recipient of over fifty awards.
The exhaust system reminds me of my days as a fork lift truck driver. The old diesel engine caused a build up of carbon in the exhaust pipe, resulting, when the engine was powered to its limit in order to push a massive casting from the foundry to the fettling shop, a chimney fire. Not your ordinary chimney fire, as simple adjustment of the accelerator regulated the length of the flame, bringing most of the workforce out of the shop to admire their forklift’s new found flame throwing capability.
Meanwhile, a call to our GP on Monday morning had us armed with the requisite advice and medicine within a couple of hours, with just a five minute wait in the surgery. We are slowly improving, though it’s a shame to be indoors on some lovely sunny days, and the first two weeks of the year will be virtually exercise free.
We are saddened today by news of the death of Dot’s younger sister, my aunt, Margaret, who had been unwell for some time. She had a good life despite recent setbacks, but that’s limited comfort at a time like this.
Take care, Dot.
Whilst Sue and I try to get to grips with our horrible coughs, here’s a tractor offering from Wuxing Nick, with a ‘context’ photo below.
We do hope we haven’t passed on our afflictions to anyone else….
One of our esteemed European Tractor Correspondents has come up with this latest image, which he has imaginatively titled ‘Another Red Tractor’.
Thanks, Nick – perhaps AlanR can manoeuvre himself off his sick bed to provide a more informative subtitle!
…. With the speed of a sickly bullet:
“It’s a McCormack, International Farmall D 430 2 wheel drive from the 1950s I like the registration plate MB and AR, what a coincidence.”
Thanks Alan
This rather smart Fendt Farmer 2 supports AlanR’s colour coding observations detailed in his comment on the previous ‘tractor’ posting.
Thanks for the excellent picture, Nick.
AlanR has commented as follows:
The Fendt Farmer 2 is a nice machine. Not cheap. Made in the early ‘60s. I have never managed to see one close up but I did know it from brochures. A 3 cylinder engine producing about 45 hip. The tractor never had a cab as standard, it was an add on accessory. You can tell by looking at it that the cab just doesn’t look right. They weren’t into operator comfort then. That front screen must have cost a fortune to produce and it was also hinged so that it would push outwards. Why they wanted this I’m not sure, it seems over elaborate. Thanks for sharing the picture.
This one is registered in Erlangen-Hochstadt in beautiful Bavaria. (I had to look that up).
Thanks Alan, I thought this extra information was worthy of inclusion in the main text.
I couldn’t make my mind up. Is he a Tractor Correspondent, or a European Correspondent? Both, I concluded…
Nick’s comment regarding the beauty below is:
‘It‘s been a while since I‘ve been able to photo a tractor - and this one is not all visible - nevertheless I guess not too difficult to identify.’
Judging by the logo, I would guess that AlanR will come back with something like ‘made in Middlesbrough on a Tuesday afternoon in 1965, painted in the colour of the last trolley bus to pass Ayresome Park before the overhead lines were removed, and exported to Holland shortly before the Teesside Docks closed’.
So how come it finished up in Germany?
A few days later, Nick was getting into his stride:
‘This time from Austria - the Wachau region on the Danube is known for its wine, but unvisited by us until now. This rather new tractor is used on one of the local vineyards, where we walked yesterday, then drank more than enough local Grüner Veltliner wine!’
Thanks Nick – you might have made AlanR happy enough to treat us to a coffee tomorrow!
When we saw him at the jazz on Monday, Reg recommended a visit to Irlam Station. So I arranged a short notice outing, starting from the station, which is only a 15 minute drive from Timperley.
Sue came along, and we were joined by Rick, Andrew and John B, with apologies from various others including JJ (wedding) and AlanR (diy). [You missed a good one.]
After supping coffees outside the station on the warm, sunny morning, we set off basically along the route I took with Reg on 25 September 2014, adjusted for the different starting point. That link (click on the date I’ve just given) gives a bit more ‘colour’ that I’m not going to repeat in this posting.
The footpath work around Great Woolden Moss has been completed since Reg and I were there. Very impressive it is too.
The old (exhausted) peat beds have now been flooded and are awaiting wildlife to discover this new sanctuary. Quite a lot of wildlife has already done that. There were excellent views in the clear air to Kinder Scout in one direction and to nearby Winter Hill, pictured below.
Lancashire Wildlife Trust have put up a splendid set of information boards.
I’ve not seen plants trained to form an arch on a path like this before!
Rick says:
“I am pretty sure the arch of plants on the moss is a willow arch. Shoots of willow are planted and will take root so it will be a living arch in future. Living willow sculptures are quite common - see a few examples here.”
Here’s the view across the Moss towards the Lancashire coast. Near here we met David Steel**, a chap who spends a lot of time hereabouts studying the bird life. He spoke of peregrine falcons, swallows and stonechats having been spotted today, and I believe this is an area where he brings folk who want to see yellow wagtails. There were certainly buzzards and kestrels in attendance as we passed through, and David assured us that the place is rich in bird life.
Splashed everywhere are markers for ‘The Salford Trail’ – a route devised by Roy Bullock just a few years ago. The route, and its accompanying brochures, has recently been updated – mainly to handle the changes to footpaths generated by Peel Holdings’ activities.
Leaving Little Woolden Moss, we strolled down a track past Moss Lodge and Red House Farms, outside which there was an assortment of miscellaneous machinery that couldn’t quite command the title of ‘tractor’!
With Glazebury almost in sight, we turned left, past Moss House Farm, to join the Glazebrook Trail that runs along the east bank of Glaze Brook nearly all the way to where the brook empties its contents into the Manchester Ship Canal.
Andrew took advantage of a passing bench while the rest of us stood to enjoy a cuppa (or whatever) and a few crumbs of cake left over from Postcard from Timperley’s recent birthday party.
Being so close to Glazebury, and having forgotten the relative merits of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway as compared with the Stockton and Darlington Railway, we agreed that I would include some clarification in this report. It’s as we thought…
Nearby Glazebury and Bury Lane railway station was closed in 1958. It was opened on 15 September 1830 by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and was originally named Bury Lane. In July 1878 it was renamed Glazebury and Bury Lane. The station was one of the original passenger stations of George Stephenson's 1830 Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world's first railway to cater for passengers as one of its primary functions. It was also arguably the world’s first inter city railway.
The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated from 1825 to 1863. This was the world's first public railway to use steam locomotives. Its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Stockton-on-Tees and Darlington, and was officially opened on 27 September 1825. The movement of coal to ships rapidly became a lucrative business, and the line was soon extended to a new port and town at Middlesbrough. While coal waggons were hauled by steam locomotives from the start, passengers were carried in coaches drawn by horses until carriages hauled by steam locomotives were introduced in 1833, some three years after the line that passes through Glazebury was opened for passengers in carriages pulled by steam engines.
The black soil may be good for some crops, but it seems to have taken its toll on a wide range of farm machinery that we now found littered on farmland in the vicinity of Little Woolden Hall.
What’s this, Alan?
Alan says: “The fabrication is called "the lower frame", it is part of a 360 degree excavator.
From the looks of it, it could possibly be a prototype, it looks too good to have been a replacement part. Maybe it was purchased for scrap when Fermec on Barton Dock Rd was vacated and then demolished.
It's a fair size so I guess it would have been 10-15 ton machine.”
(I’ve deleted Alan’s comment and link to a picture as my virus checker told me it was infected with malware.)*
There must be about twenty tractors in various states of (dis)repair around here.
This one looks exceptionally sad…
Here’s Alan’s report on the machinery:
“The Fendt with the puncture is a nice piece of kit but a bit expensive at around 70/80k to leave it idle.
The yellow Fergy is quite a rare sight. It's an MF 65 in industrial yellow. They were built in Coventry and were painted red. If they went to an agricultural dealer they stayed red but if they went to a council or contractor they were repainted yellow as this one was. Hence the red front end.
When Massey moved the industrial section of the company to Stretford in Manchester they initially shipped machines from Coventry to be converted to "industrial". A few years later the Manchester factory started producing the machines entirely and they were painted yellow from scratch.”
Thanks Alan.
As the sky started to cloud over, we made our way back to Irlam Station for an excellent lunch. It’s one of a number of a great dining spots hereabouts. Thanks to Reg for the recommendation.
Here’s our route, 13.5 km taking about 3 hours – very easy to navigate, and ideal for a half day stroll in countryside very close to the city centre.
Thanks for coming along, everyone.
* See Alan’s further comment, and here’s a picture:
**John B has now sent me this excellent link to an article written in 2013 describing some of David’s activities. Here’s an extract:
“David’s sightings have helped the Wildlife Trust to know when and where they can work on restoring the moss. The Trust owns Cadishead Moss and Astley Moss and manages 12 Yards Road and Highfield Moss. They bought the 90 hectares Little Woolden Moss last year and have worked over winter to ensure this expanse of peat extraction is returned to a carbon-capturing moss landscape.”
Here’s the latest offering from Wuxing Nick, our roving reporter from the EU. Some of the exhaust system may not be original, but this Bulldog had a label that dated it at nearly 80 years old.
It looks to have been looked after a bit better than the much newer relics pictured in the previous posting. Cheer up, AlanR!
Keith had kindly arranged a walk a little closer to home than this group’s usual territory, so Sue, Susan and I enjoyed a leisurely drive to the Candle Workshops at Burwardsley, from where we were soon marched off towards Beeston Castle.
David and I got a bit left behind. Here’s our view of the group of thirteen people ahead of us, with Beeston Castle somewhat obscured by trees in the background.
If the others are somewhere in that picture, I can’t see them and neither could David. Eventually we met them coming the other way near the castle entrance by this smart house. I think they all thought that we’d gone ahead!
We nearly got some ice creams, but the shop was full, so we pressed on to elevenses on some wet grass.
We walk these paths more often in winter, when they are less overgrown and are more muddy. Here’s Andrew, stalking through the long grass, wishing he’d taken a lower dose of shrinking powder.
Peckforton Castle, a Victorian country house built in the style of a medieval castle (unlike Beeston Castle, which dates from the 1220s) invites people to ‘Come in and see this hidden gem’. Keith’s pace hardly faltered as he rushed us past. Another time, perhaps.
The Sandstone Trail that we were following may have petered out here (below), much to the confusion of those with maps, but once Graham had studied Keith’s scratchings the route was retrieved and progress was furthered. To be honest, I don’t really know what was going on. If you blow this picture up and study the expressions you might conclude that I wasn’t alone….
More fields were encountered as we steadily conquered the gradient up to the Peckforton escarpment. Andrew was now back to normal, having taken an antidote to combat his shrinkage. Sue’s CCS.
We expected to find AlanR rummaging around here in his private playground.
He needs to take more care of his exhibits!
This restored classic whizzed past, being driven by a gas tank with flat arms. Weird!
A nearby relic needed a bit of work, but….
… this one has been fully restored – very shiny…
The lunchtime view, once the toes of a toppled tree had been photoshopped out, was one of expansive views over Cheshire and into Staffordshire.
Lunch was duly consumed on a soily plateau, then the team marched off once again.
“They’re an ugly lot”, observed Richard, “so the silhouette works well.”
Near the ‘Poacher’, a fine hostelry that Keith declined to visit, a large stone obelisk rises like a giant phallic carbuncle.
An elite group, the ‘Famous Five’ plus Susan, split off near here in a bid to get home before darkness fell and Jenny suffered nervous convulsions. We paused briefly to admire the vista towards Liverpool and towards the Clwyd Hills where we’d been three weeks earlier. Unfortunately the image captured by my Lumix FT4 isn’t perfect.
There’s a trig point marking the 227 metre summit of Rawhead. It’s decorated with an item of great historical significance. The audience (including two strange women out of shot) was rapt as Richard expounded on the remarkable events that took place here. Jenny cried, as did the two onlookers.
From that great height we hastened down loosely carpeted paths, back to the candle workshops, where Martin and Andrew were rewarded with ice creams as compensation for having to put up with Richard’s tall stories, and a quick exit was made before Jenny could be trampled by a cow in the dark.
It was a pleasant enough route along the weak and twisted backbone of the Peckforton Hills, much of it on the Sandstone Trail footpath – about 16 km with around 500 metres ascent, taking 5.25 hours. The other nine went a bit further. But they haven’t been seen since, though four of them may soon resurface in Newtonmore, where they could be held over for ‘bagging’ offences.
Thanks Keith, for organising this walk.
