Andrew Simmonds relates how his family repatriated a Sentinel steam waggon from Canada this autumn, and why it is of historic local significance to them.

Back in the early 1980s I purchased A Kaleidoscope of Steam Wagons by Bob Whitehead. Inside was a photograph of a Sentinel DG4 waggon, owned by Henry Franklin of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. The photograph taken by Arthur Ingram c1950 showed the waggon complete with drawbar trailer in Charlton, SE London.
Henry Franklin were millers and operated from two mills at Langford and Biggleswade, just a couple of miles from my home.

Later at a rally, I purchased some 1963 Old Motor magazines and inside was a small photo of the Sentinel, now preserved by Charles Matthews in Ontario, Canada.
A bit of research followed and I found out that the waggon, registered TM 9486, works No 8595, was new to Franklins in 1931 and they were its only commercial operator. It completed 22 years service with only one driver, Alf Peacock, whose dedication to steam-powered transport kept it going until spares became a problem in 1953.
With the Sentinel now being many thousands of miles away I never thought I’d see it on a rally field in the UK, but things can change!

In 1990 my father was due to go to Canada visiting relations and said he would track the Sentinel down while there. My brother, Jason, and I joked that he should bring it back with him! After some hunting and a few dead leads it was located just 40 minutes’ drive from where he was staying.
After he contacted the owners, the sons of the late Charles Matthews, Roger and Charles Jnr, they kindly invited dad to view their collection of various preserved lorries and traction engines, several of which had come from England in the late 1950s and 60s. The Sentinel hadn’t been steamed for a while but had been looked after, being stored in a heated shed, and had survived in very original condition. It was definitely not for sale at the time but dad expressed his interest if ever it was available and promised when he returned home to find out as much history as possible.

After quite a few years’ research and speaking to many people, much history was uncovered. Henry Franklin had established the flour mill in 1860 and operated from two mills situated on the River Ivel about two miles apart, at Biggleswade and Langford. They were eventually to have depots at Biggleswade, Arlesey, Hitchin, Shefford and Sandy railway stations. Franklins were eventually taken over by Dalgety in the 1960s and both mills subsequently closed. They still stand today, largely unaltered externally but converted to living accommodation.

End of the On-line article.
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