Allchin No 3251 was named Royal Chester after being on Allchin’s stand at the Chester Royal Show. This was the last-built of the breed before the firm went out of business in 1931.

John Crawley commentated at the Weald of Kent Traction Engine Club’s rally at Paddock Wood, deep in the heart of hop-growing country, in 1959. He relates the story of the engines that were to be found on parade there.

Having received an invitation from Bob Whitehead, honorary secretary of The Weald of Kent Traction Engine Club, asking me if I’d undertake the duty of commentator for their 1959 Paddock Wood Rally, and having agreed, I found myself arriving at the rally field on a lovely sunny morning of 15 August.

My first job was to report to Bob for an update on the entries and then visit them to make notes to use in my commentary (oh, how I wish I still had them to help me now). Going round the engines enabled me to take the photographs shown here. Looking back at them today, it is interesting to see the varying standards of restoration.
After a snack, I settled myself down on a flat-top trailer, ready to start my stint as commentator for the one-day event.

The events started with a grand parade, followed by an obstacle competition. All went very much to form until we came to the third event, the balloon-bursting competition. This was a game I’d thought up for one of the previous Woburn rallies. Twelve each of white, red and yellow balloons were tied with a piece of string each and fixed to the ground in a random pattern. Each of the competing rollers with a coloured scarf wrapped around its chimney then, upon starter’s orders, had to burst the balloons of his corresponding colour, and the first back to the start line was declared the winner. It was amazing how the balloons wouldn’t burst unless completely run over; they just flattened half while the other half expanded, so there was a lot of shunting back and forth to ensure a ‘kill’. All was going well with the three rollers charging in all directions, then two of them collided.

There is never anything funny about an accident and no one was hurt, but I must admit that I did find it amusing when I discovered that the two roller drivers were professionals, still driving rollers for a living. After a lifetime of backwards and forwards rolling, this was something new and both had become so wrapped up in what they were doing that they collided. Both rollers suffered minor damage but were able to leave the field the following day.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was the appearance of Harry Matthews, Allchins’ chief test driver, who had been brought down by Esmond Kimbell, a well-known Northamptonshire engine enthusiast. Harry was lifted on Allchin No 3251, the last Allchin traction engine to be built.

Ouch! Armstrong-Whitworth roller No 10R35 collided with Aveling & Porter road roller No 14187 during the balloon-bursting competition at Paddock Wood.

Harry, back in 1925, had been responsible for its testing and passing out as fit for sale. As he drove the engine, the years just seemed to drop off him.
Let’s have a look at some of the engines that were rallying in the south-east at the end of the 1950s, in alphabetical and date order.

Allchin 7hp single cylinder traction engine No 1415 was built on Saturday 9 November 1911 and sold to James Hobden of Ringmer, Sussex, where eventually it received the registration AP 9077. Hobden must have been well pleased with the engine as it worked for them for 50 years and one month, before they sold it to W Davis & Sons of Southborough, Kent. By 1959 it was with M Turk of Bearsted, Kent, in whose ownership it appeared at Paddock Wood.

Allchin 7hp single-cylinder traction engine No 3251 of Friday 25 September 1925 was exhibited on Allchin’s stand at the Royal Agricultural Society Show at Chester that year. It was sold to JG & B Earnshaw of Gleadless, Derbyshire, receiving the registration NU 7483 and named Royal Chester in recognition of its appearance at the royal show. On a later date not recorded, the engine was sold to Chris Lambert of Horsmonden, Kent. In 1955 it was with Malcolm Rostron of Beckenham, Kent, who entered it for today’s event.

Armstrong Whitworth 10-ton compound roller No 10R35 was built in June 1925 for stock, receiving the registration NE 2271. On a date not recorded, it was sold to John Allen & Sons (Oxford) Ltd. In 1948 it was sold to Hughson Ltd of Hawkhurst, Kent, where it was named Vina. In 1957 it went to Don Eastwood of Horsmonden, Kent, who presented it at this rally.

End of the On-line article.
You can read the full article in the latest issue of Old Glory Magazine.