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Aveling tractor Margaret

I thought at first glance that Bob Jakes’ smart looking Aveling tractor was not in steam as it stood between a living van and a passenger trailer. This was one of the engines which was going to be subject to the tender mercies of the Steam Apprentices at their recent driving weekend organised by the Bedfordshire Steam Engine Preservation Society.

Having interrupted Bob’s breakfast he told me that despite appearances there was already a full head of steam and the engine was ready to go, it just needed the driver and a keen apprentice or two. The Aveling had been lit up earlier that morning by Andy Holmes using some of his supply of Welsh Dry Steam coal. Not only had this burned well while the pressure built up but now that the engine was ready to go it was still producing very little smoke.

With a few minutes in hand and with the permission of event organiser Paul Worbey, I arranged for the Aveling to be taken on a brief test run around the park. Bob returned to his breakfast and left the engine in the capable hands of Andy and Peter Nixon who moved the engine to a quieter area of the grounds for some photographs to be taken. The coal was certainly good quality, burned well and produced hardly any smoke and Andy was certainly pleased with its performance.

Bob bought Aveling & Porter 4nhp GND tractor No 7898 of 1913 in 2006 and since then has only had to undertake routine maintenance to keep the well restored engine ingood order. Recently the old paint was stripped from the flywheel and this revealed a star shaped design in the middle and which has now been replicated in the repainting. Interestingly, during the rubbing down an earlier star design was uncovered with the points in different places but Bob elected to retain the latter design.

The Aveling was one of a pair of GND-type tractors, Nos 7898 and 7899, which had been delivered to the order of Essex County Council in February 1913 and which were used by them for hauling stone and gravel for the roadmaking gangs. Interestingly both are recorded as being convertibles although the roller gear was not supplied at the time of the original order. No 7898 was allocated to Waltham (Holy Cross) Depot and moved later to Tendring.

There is a photograph of the engine in the company of the council’s steam wagons which is thought to have been taken at the Torrington Depot near Colchester.

It was during its time with Essex County Council that an apparent anomaly arose with its registration number as by the early 1920s it was carrying ‘D 7078’ however her sister engine 7899 carried ‘D 9079’. A few years ago, Old Glory’s Derek Rayner researched this discrepancy and discovered that, just to complicate the story even further, the registration D 7078 had originally been given to a 1911 Aveling & Porter steam wagon. Derek’s investigations, which were published in the Summer 2007 issue of Steaming, revealed that the Essex fleet records documented the tractors original registration as D 9078, but by 1921 the plate D 7078 was being carried. Rather than some convoluted conspiracy theory involving council records, Derek’s conclusion is that the change of number may well have been down to a simple error by the painter when the engine was in for maintenance. The original D 9078 being replaced by D 7078 – an error which was never corrected and the engine has carried the number ever since.

By 1930 the tractor had left council service and was in the hands of Jacksons of Beehive Lane, Great Beddow, Essex, and in 1931 it was bought by GE Rawlinson, an agricultural contractor in Hatfield Peverel. In 1954 Les Smith of Downham, Essex, was keen to buy himself a full sized traction engine having already built a 2in scale Scenic Burrell and he ran several advertisements in the East Anglian Daily Times. There was a good response and he looked at both a McLaren and a Foster before Ted Rawlinson made contact and offered him the Aveling.

The princely sum of £30 changed hands and Les’ son Andy still has the original receipt for the transaction, which is dated 14 December 1954. The old engine had obviously been laid up in the yard for some time and had sat for many years just inside the gate. The small elm tree growing up through the rear wheel was evidence that it had not turned a wheel for years and the original canopy was also conspicuous by its absence. The front end was seized solid but the application of copious amounts of diesel oil and some gentle rocking backwards and forwards with the aid of a tractor eventually freed everything. Les then towed the old engine on an ‘A’-bar back to White Lillie’s Farm in Downham.

The arrival of the Aveling at the farm was something of an occasion and this new ‘member’ of the family naturally warranted a photograph. Les must have put in a lot of hard work over that winter as No 7898 was ready to attend her first rally in July 1955. This was the first EATEC rally held at Saling Aerodrome on Saturday 9 July and the Aveling had been roaded over the previous day. In the few months since Les had bought her the engine had been re-tubed, the chimney shortened to accommodate a chimney cap which had been bought at the Chris Lambert sale and the engine had been generally smartened up for her first rally appearance.

The engine had been christened Margaret after Len’s wife and was rallied again in
1956 but the following year the engine was sold to Ben and Charlie Taylor but on the understanding that if ever they decided to sell her they would give Les first refusal.

As part of the Taylor Brothers fleet the Aveling was rallied all across East Anglia until the mid 1960s when she was re-tubed and then laid up in the yard at Wimbish. When Charlie Taylor died in 1974 his brother Ben, being true to his word, offered the engine back to the Smith family. The beginning of their second period of ownership was marked by the need for some significant restoration work, as the passing years had not been kind to the Aveling.

The major rebuild included the fitting of rubber tyres and a full length canopy using the canopy irons which came from Aveling convertible No 6568 The Joker, which had been cut up and the remains were still in Taylors yard. The steering wheel and diff centre from this engine were also fitted to No 7898. Following the restoration work the engine was regularly rallied all over East Anglia and was always roaded between events, remaining in steam until the late 1980s when some of the tubes fitted in 1965 began to give way.

By this time Les was not in the best of health and the engine was laid up for another lengthy period. Although he was not fit enough to work on the full size engine, Les busied himself with the construction of a 3in scale version which he completed in 1989. It was exhibited at the Model Engineering exhibition at Alexandra Palace in 1990 and won the Gold Medal, the Aveling-Barford Trophy and the Bradbury Winter Cup. During 1994 and 1995 the third restoration of No 7898 began and a new firebox, barrel, tubeplate, smokebox and another canopy were fitted. Much of the major boiler work was completed at Peter Williams yard at Wymondham and once the work was completed Margaret returned to the rally field once again. In 1997 she was sold to Peter Turvey and a year later the Aveling was acquired by Geoff Squirrell.

I spoke to Geoff about the work which he carried out while the Aveling was in his ownership. The sound condition of the boiler, following the excellent work carried out by Peter Williams, was one of the main reasons why Geoff bought the engine but much work was carried out on the motion over the next few years.

This work was undertaken during the ‘off season’ which enabled Geoff and his family to rally the engine each summer. With a background in mechanical engineering it is not surprising that Geoff enjoys this aspect of engine ownership more than driving or working the engine. He carried out a full re-bore, made new pistons, re-ground the crank, made new big end bearing bronzes, fabricated and installed a new second speed gear and made and fitted the governor. He also noticed that the engine only had one gauge glass although the holes for the second were there so he also made and fitted a second gauge glass. The decision to sell the engine came in 2006 and it then passed to Bob Jakes.

Since Bob bought the engine it has played an important role in his fundraising activities for the Gail Jakes Trust – which was set up a few years ago after his wife sadly died of cancer.

Her last days were spent being cared for at the Sue Ryder Care, St John’s Hospice at Moggerhanger in Bedfordshire and by arranging various events the Trust has raised over £25,000 for the hospice. The St John’s Hospice is part of the Sue Ryder Care national charity which is devoted to the care of patients with a wide range of physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs.

The hospice itself is located in a quiet country setting in the village of Moggerhanger and was originally set up by local people in the memory of the late Bishop John Hare.

Their work is directed towards the provision of specialist palliative care for patients suffering from a variety of incurable conditions including all types of cancer, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, heart, lung and liver diseases and end of life illness.

Day to day care is provided by the highly trained and motivated team ensuring the very best care is available and which is provided at all times.

I can think of no better use for the Aveling than to be associated with the trust’s various fund raising activities. These have included sponsored activities as well as road runs for preserved vehicles which have proved to be popular and well supported events.

Recent vehicle gatherings held at the Jakes family home at Mill Farm in Gamlingay have provided an entertaining day out with some classic vehicles and participants encouraging spectators  to dip their hands into their pockets and donate a small or even a large something to help the trust.

Mill Farm has been home to three generations of the Jakes family and was established as a traditional market garden, growing vegetables for delivery to the markets in London and Cambridge as well as their own farm shop.

The increased competition from supermarkets led to the eventual closure of the shop and produce is now only grown on part of the farm which is enough to supply the needs of the family and the local community. With the scaling back of the market garden business Bob and his family now have time to enjoy steaming the Aveling and working on the small collection of classic tractors which are also kept at the farm.

My thanks to Bob for allowing me to play with his traction engine for a short while and for providing the details of the engine’s history and the work of the Gail Jakes Trust. I would also like to thank Andy Smith and Geoff Squirrell for the information on the engine while she was in their ownership.