Steam-Driven Things

Today we are going where the past meets the present, where hard old-fashioned graft rubs shoulders with recreation and leisure, where the laughter of children overlays the roars of huge machines, and where the tang of coal smoke mingles with the aroma of beer and fish and chips. We're off to Stotfold Mill Working Steam Weekend.

It's a fairly small show and you could get around the whole site in an hour or two, but others linger for the whole day and still don't see everything. Unlike other shows there's no central ring where all the action takes place and if there is a programme then I didn't see one. You wander around aimlessly and there's always something happening in several places. It's probably the last show of the year for many enthusiasts and there's a laid-back, end-of-term feel to everything.

The Watermill

We arrived soon after the show started, at the civilised time of 10:30. There were not too many people about, so it was an ideal time to visit Stotfold Mill itself.

In 1992 there was a disastrous fire which destroyed most of the historic building; all that remained were some brick foundations and metal parts including the overshot waterwheel. A group of local volunteers got together and made the courageous decision that the mill must be completely rebuilt. This involved their travelling all over the country, looking at similar mills to see exactly how they were constructed.

Although it's something of a showpiece, with explanatory notices and collections of historic items that have only tenuous connections to milling, it has a quality which older mills lack. You see, watermills and windmills didn't just shut down while they were in full productive mode; they limped along for decades, being used occasionally when other more modern facilities were busy or a local farmer had some animal feed to be ground. During this time the fabric of the mills deteriorated until one day they were completely abandoned. The crisp, new woodwork we see at Stotfold is much closer to how these mills must have looked in their heyday than other more antiquated mills.

The machinery extends over three floors of the building and everything you see is powered by the waterwheel.

There's a remarkably life-like model of the miller totting up his profits. We also made use of the small tea-room which is nowadays attached to the mill. We're off to get a nice pot of tea and some hot, buttered teacakes. After that we'll explore the show.....

Stationary Exhibits

While they are preparing the working machines we'll have a look at some of the stationary items on display.....

To one side of the showground there are some stately old motorcars.

Many knowledgeable authorities were to be found drooling over this ancient steam-powered Foden lorry. They told us that this is a rare visitor to shows in this area and one they hadn't seen before. It's also remarkable in that all its paintwork is original.

There was an impressive line-up of elderly tractors to be admired, though some of these would disappear from time to time to demonstrate a little ploughing, or else to tow other machines that had broken down.

This unusual design is "not that old", by which I mean of course that they were used during my lifetime. Every now and then some heartless person reminds me that that could still mean "ancient" to younger eyes. Anyway, this is a David Brown 2D Row-Crop Tractor that was launched to much fanfare in the late 1950s. It was revolutionary in that it was rear-engined and had a range of cultivating tools which could be mounted just in front of the driver, exactly where he could see what was going on. Despite their optimism, production ceased in 1961.

Here's an altogether more ancient beast. This is a Renault PE tractor that was first manufactured in 1926. We can take a little circular historical journey here:

   At 4 am, one morning in May 1896, the inventor Dan Albone jumped out of bed, much to the annoyance of his wife, with a new idea buzzing in his head. He had just conceived the modern lightweight tractor.

   By 1902 the new tractor was undergoing its first trial.

   In 1903 Dan realised that, with a covering of thick, bullet-proof metal, his new vehicle might be used by the army.

   During the 1914-18 war the new "tanks" were used for the first time. Renault in France began making similar machines.

   After the war Renault reversed the process and made agricultural tractors, based on their tanks.

   In 1926 they made the PE, their first proper agricultural tractor.

   And now here it is back in Bedfordshire, just five miles from where Mrs Albone was rudely awakened 127 years ago!

Ploughing By Steam

Periodically the relative peace was interrupted by loud blasts from a neighbouring field. If we go through a hole in the hedge we can see what's going on.....

Amid a certain amount of head-scratching they are about to begin ploughing another strip of land. The reversible plough on the right of the picture needs to be tipped down and will then be pulled up the field by another steam engine at the far end....

Like this! Once at the top of the hill, the plough will need to be tipped up again and man-handled into position to begin the next furrow. Then the whole apparatus will then be pulled back by.... 

...."Princess Caroline", patiently awaiting her turn. You can see the great drum beneath the machine which will winch in the steel cable to pull the plough. When everything's ready to go the drivers of the vehicles signal to one another with ear-splitting blasts, like this....

This is how ploughing was carried out in this area before Dan Albone's new tractors took over. If you hadn't guessed we were among the visitors who spent the whole day there. I'll be back in a day or two with more from the Working Steam Weekend.

Take care

Last Train To Walmington-On-Sea

Alan Bloom, the man who founded the garden at Bressingham, had other enthusiasms besides gardening. One of these was steam trains, and that hobby also spilled over onto the Bressingham site. As we made our way towards the Dell Garden we passed by the Oakington signal box. Oakington is just a few miles from Les's house.

After our walk around the gardens (and a good lunch in the café) we made our way to the exhibition space.

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First of all you pass through the "Dad's Army" exhibition. Much of the TV sitcom was filmed around here. Corporal Jones's delivery van has now made its final delivery and has retired to Bressingham.

As has his butcher's shop.

Here is the fire engine with which the brave men of Walmington-On-Sea attempted to infiltrate "the enemy" during a training exercise. Several of the old vehicles featured in the series were on loan from Alan Bloom's collection.

The Dad's Army exhibits fade in rather muddled fashion into the steam engine museum. Behind the small green locomotive you can see the full-size mail coach. We can take a peek inside...

I remember having one of these in my toy train set. It automatically picked up a mailbag hung from a trackside gantry. Magic! Here you can see where the letters were sorted as the train sped along its way.

There are a number of these wonderful machines, but they are crammed into a small space and were not easy to photograph.

I didn't really expect to use these photos for a post and, although I read the information boards, I can't remember many details about these old steam locos. There were a few old steam traction engines too...

· WM. FOSTER & CO. LTD. · LINCOLN · ENGLAND ·

There were various other steam-driven devices on show. Those red and green lines are all applied by hand. And who nowadays would design a pressure valve to look like a Grecian urn?

But we had to have another look at that signal box. Mum's brother, our Uncle Bill, was for a time the signalman at Old North Road station, near Longstowe, and we once visited him at work and were allowed to pull the big levers that operated the points and signals (probably a lever that wasn't in use). An unforgettable experience for little boys!

Take care.

More From The Collection

The Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden, that is. Just a few random items that caught my eye as I wandered round, some from Shuttleworth's time and some later additions.

Sopwith Triplane (1916)

This was a state-of-the-art fighter plane when it was introduced in 1916, but such was speed of innovation in flying during the Great War that by 1917 it had been superseded by the Sopwith Camel. Test pilot Harry Hawker was so confident in the Triplane's design that within three minutes of take-off on its maiden flight he did three successive loops! Most of these aircraft were manufactured in Clayton & Shuttleworth's factory, the one above though is a reproduction of the original plane, but one which won the approval of Sir Thomas Sopwith himself.


1903 Marot-Gardon Quadricycle

In the early days of the internal combustion engine all sorts of wacky vehicles were designed as manufacturers sought the way forward - including this four-wheeled motorbike with the pillion seat at the front! The firm of Marot-Gardon made several designs of motorised tricycles and quadricycles which used to take part in road races alongside the cars of the day.


Allis-Chalmers (Model B) 1950

These little tractors were made in the United States from 1937 onwards and over the following two decades 127,100 were produced. From 1947 they were also manufactured in England, initially from parts made in the US but later made wholly in this country. This charming machine was found in a barn a few miles away and was restored by one of the engineers employed here.


Arvo Triplane IV (a replica of the 1910 plane)

This remarkable machine is a copy of a plane made in the early years of the twentieth century. Early models were merely development prototypes as the pioneers of aviation refined their art, but by the time this Model IV was built it was good enough to use at the flying school at Brooklands but, as it says on the information board, "several times coming into intimate contact with the sewage farm". 

This copy was built for use in the film "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines". As it is largely true to the original plane and flies really well it was purchased for the Collection and can sometimes be seen flying sedately over the fields of Old Warden on calm days. 


Ivel Cycle Woks (Est 1880)

Some of you may remember that I wrote a bit about Dan Albone in an earlier post. He lived just down the road at Biggleswade and was a cycle-enthusiast who came up with many inventions which led to him building the first modern bicycles. This is a reproduction of his premises and displays a range of cycles showing the improvements which took place during his short but productive lifetime.


Mignet HM.14 Pou-de-Ciel

Suspended on wires from the roof of one of the hangars is this sweet little "Pou-de-Ciel" (literally "Louse of the Sky", but usually rather freely translated as "Flying Flea"). From 1920 onwards Frenchman Henri Mignet strove to develop a small plane which enthusiasts could build at home, leading to the HM.14 in 1933. Mignet flew the plane successfully and published the plans, resulting in many planes being built worldwide. 

However many of these home-built aircraft began to crash, getting into dives which the pilots were unable to pull out of. This led to the planes being grounded or banned in many countries. It was later proved that the accidents were caused by the builders incorporating design features of their own, such as putting in larger engines or modifying the wings. The Pou-de-Ciel never lived down the bad publicity, though thousands of micro-light aircraft of basically similar design have been built and flown since.


Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vc (1941)

"Spitfire" - just the name of it was enough to get small boys of my generation excited as we ran around the playground with arms outstretched enacting air battles! This particular plane was flown out of Duxford by No. 310 (Czech) Squadron escorting USAAF bombers of the 91st Bombardment Group which included the famous "Memphis Belle". It has recently been completely stripped down and returned to its original wartime specifications. 

Take care.

A Man And His Flying Machines

The Shuttleworth Collection of historic aeroplanes, vintage vehicles and a lot more besides is in the care of the Shuttleworth Trust which was founded by Dorothy Shuttleworth in memory of her only son, Richard.

So who was this Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth? Lets take a wander through the collection, look at the exhibits and learn a little about him.

A Clayton & Shuttleworth steam engine

He was born in 1909, the son of Colonel Frank Shuttleworth and his wife Dorothy. Richard's grandfather was the founding partner of Clayton & Shuttleworth, the Lincoln firm of agricultural engineers who pioneered the development of steam engines and threshing machines.

A re-creation of an engineering workshop 

When Richard was only four years old his father died and the family began to prepare the young boy to take over the family firm once he was old enough to do so. Richard was no great scholar however and just scraped into Eton. He failed to impress academically but proved himself to be brilliant in the school's mechanical workshop. Throughout his life he was fascinated by all kinds of machines.

Dreams of the RAF,

a 1918 Arvo 504K

On leaving Eton he just managed to get into the army where he distinguished himself mainly as a keen horseman winning several horse races. On gaining his inheritance he left the army and wanted to join the RAF but was rejected as being "too old"; he was 23 at the time.

The1898 Panhard et Lavassor bought by Richard Shuttleworth in 1928

and restored by him and entered into the

 London-Brighton Road Run the following year

He had already become interested in old cars and at the age of 19 he began entering the London to Brighton Road Run for veteran cars in several different vehicles which he had restored in his workshop. 

The 1939 MG TA Midget owned by Richard at the time of his death

He soon became interested in faster cars and won the Brighton Speed Trials, breaking the course record. In 1935 he won the Donnington Grand Prix and another big race at Brooklands. The following year he entered the South African Grand Prix and had a bad crash, leaving him  unconscious in hospital for 19 days. That ended Richard's racing career and he decided to take up something safer - flying aeroplanes (!)

Blackburn Monoplane 1912
The oldest airworthy plane of British origin,
 it still flies at the airshows held at Old Warden airfield.

Shuttleworth's obsession with all things mechanical meant that his new hobby did not end at merely flying planes. he acquired many old planes and restored them to airworthy condition. The Blackburn Monoplane seen above was discovered in a barn in 1937 and he set about a long-term restoration project. But we can do better than that......

1909 Bleriot Type XI
the oldest flying aeroplane and aero-engine in the world

This plane was built by Blériot in 1909, the year that he flew across the Channel. It was used at Bleriot's Flying School at Hendon. It crashed in 1910 and was bought by a scrap-metal merchant who restored it and taught himself to fly in it. It was put into storage during the Great War where it remained until Shuttleworth bought it in 1935 and re-built it.

With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 Richard joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve. Once he'd completed the training he was to join the crash investigation team. In order to complete this formality he took off from an airfield in Oxfordshire, soon afterwards the plane crashed into a hillside and he was killed.

Richard's mother kept all her son's planes and vehicles as a memorial to him. And what more appropriate memorial could there be? And perhaps the most fitting part of the whole collection is just a little off the main route taken by many visitors.

You can still visit the original workshop where Richard Shuttleworth worked on his planes. A young man was at work restoring one of the many working exhibits in the collection.


Take care.

At Home With John And Ascelina Adgor

This is a place I've been meaning to show you for a long time, especially those of you who love the vernacular architecture of the old houses and cottages of England, as well as those who like to see hand-crafted building and woodwork.

This all began back in September 2015 when I attended the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust's day out at the Museum Of East Anglian Life at Stowmarket. The singing and playing take place in various old buildings which have been brought to the site and one of the first musicians I heard was Matt Quinn in a building known as Edgar's Farmhouse. I found out what I could and then returned to take more photos some months later.

It was immediately obvious that this was an unusual building. Inside it was just one large barn-like space, it had an earth floor and it no windows at all. At the end of the music session I searched out an information board which told me that the house dated from the fourteenth century and was built in the nearby village of Coombs for the Adgors, John and his wife Ascelina (now there's a name that should be revived). The family had survived the Black Death, which had swept through the county in the 1340s, and thrived and prospered farming the surrounding fields.

Over the years the Adgors became the Edgars - spelling always being rather fluid in those times - and succeeding generations adapted the original building to suit the needs of the day. We should not be surprised by this, after all we change our homes today to incorporate new fads and technologies, be it double glazing or open-plan living spaces, though the farmers of that time were happy to introduce windows of any kind and went from open-plan to separate rooms. By the twentieth century it looked like the photo, above right. Not only had it had an extra wing added but it had also been converted to have upstairs rooms. The house also had the additional refinement of chimney-stacks. 

Not that Mr and Mrs Adgor shivered through the fourteenth century winters without any form of heating. They had a fire alright, they merely hadn't invented the chimney just yet. So the fire was lit in the middle of the room and the smoke rose into the high roof space, finding its way out by any opening it could. Goodness knows there were plenty of holes through which it might escape - just look at the photos! And while you're looking you'll see, in the above photo especially, that many of the original beams are still in place and retain their smoke-blackened appearance to this day.

But what gets the experts excited is the method of construction. Without getting technical it's a stage in the development of such buildings which is seen in few other places and, as you can see, it's a rather more complex and advanced structure than might have been supposed. This was known about, or at least suspected, from examination of the adapted two-storey house back in 1958. But when the farm was about to be demolished to make way for new housing in 1970 it gave an opportunity to take the building apart, piece-by-piece, examine it, and then re-erect it on its present site in the museum. What we see today is the experts' best guess at how it was first constructed.

As Matt Quinn sang the old songs about sailors, farm-workers and highwaymen I couldn't help but wonder if any of these songs had been heard here in the distant past. Did old John and Ascelina once raise their voices and rattle the smoky beams above their heads with rustic harmony?

Take care.