Tiger tractor and tradition at Stotfold Mill

THE SEVENTH Stotfold Mill Steam Fair was held on 9-10 May, which included the debut of the Saunders family’s newly restored Fowler Tiger tractor No 15629 of 1920 which has not seen a rally field for over 20 years. She looked resplendent in a rather subtle umber, with gleaming brasswork and beautifully lined out.

The restored Tiger tractor simmers away with ploughing engines Sunrise and Sunset. BARRIE C WOODS

The T3 Tiger tractor was supplied to Martins of Treburley in East Cornwall in 1920 and after many owners, joined the famous collection of Chris Lambert of Horsmonden in the 1950s. Soon afterwards it was sold for the enormous sum of £105! It was owned for a long time by Leslie Drage of Great Chrishill, near Royston, and named The Tiger. For many years she was a familiar sight across East Anglian events. Since purchased by John Saunders, major boiler repairs, extensive overhaul and repaint have been undertaken. At present there are no plans to replace the canopy.

Fairground favourites included Saunders’ Steam Yachts among the Gallopers, Cake Walk, Wall of Death, Dodgems, rifle range and big wheel. Other ‘local’ stalls around the showground included such delights as crockery smashing, local plants and cake stands and a craft tent displayed many old-time favourite pastimes. Money raised from the event finds its way into the adjacent mill which, with its 14ft wide waterwheel, was operating throughout the weekend. Restoration is such that flour can now be milled and purchased and the newly installed sack hoist was in action. A new volunteer organisation has just been formed called The Millers Wheel. To find out more, email millerswheel@stotfoldmill.com or tel. 01462 734541.

Barrie Woods/Mike Dyson

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Industrial museum for old Aveling building?

LOCAL organisations have put forward a number of constructive suggestions for the re-use of the former offices of the Aveling & Porter company on the waterfront at Strood, which is threatened with demolition by Medway Council.

A public meeting was due to be held on Friday 19 June at 7pm in the auditorium at the Medway Visitor Centre, High Street, Rochester.

One proposal for an industrial museum would commemorate the whole Medway district, including cement, brickmaking, brewing and paper making enterprises.

The building was erected to house the offices of Aveling and Porter Ltd, famous for being the world’s leading manufacturer of steam road rollers. The demolition plans include an older, gabled adjoining building that was used at some time as the mayor’s parlour but was originally occupied by Charles Dickens’ doctor.

Said a spokesman: “Strood does not have any buildings of note and none so strategically placed along the river front as this building. Its loss would be a sad demise of a fine building, although not grand enough for English Heritage to grant it listed status.”

n Opposition to the proposed demolition should be emailed to Medway Council leader Rodney Chambers at Rodney.chambers@medway.gov.uk

Stricken paddle steamer misses Pompey celebrations

PS MONARCH, the Isle of Wight paddle steamer, suffered a major setback in May when she required assistance from naval tugging company Serco Denholm.

The diminutive PS Monarch in happier times than the Portsmouth steam weekend!

Monarch was due to appear at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard for the annual Celebration of Steam event on 9-10 May where she would have offered free trips to those attending.

Tragically, the vessel’s diesel generator, which is essential for it to raise steam and operate, malfunctioned, even after an expensive repair, and the tiny ship was unable to even appear as a static display and was instead stranded deep within Portsmouth’s Naval Base – well away from view.

Monarch’s planned appearance was sponsored by Wightlink, who donated the ferry transport, and Serco, who supplied the lifting gear to get the vessel into the water at Portsmouth.

Skipper Matt O’Crowley said: “The staff at Serco have been amazing. I have never come across such a dedicated, professional, kind or highly skilled group of people before. Many of their staff worked on paddle tugs in the past and can boast up to 45 years service!

“We were absolutely gutted that Monarch was let down so badly by modern technology and we apologise unreservedly to attendees of the Celebration of Steam who did not even get the chance to view us on the water and steaming around the world’s most famous naval vessels.

“The Chief Engineer and I worked solidly from the moment that she entered the water to make sure that she would be ready for service, but unfortunately it eventually became apparent that this would be impossible. To top it all, one of our volunteers, John Garside, even managed to cut his wrist with his own penknife and required an ambulance to take him to hospital… so not a good weekend for anybody really!”

The good news is that one paddle steamer will help another when PS Ryde – aka Ryde Queen – will help start the ball rolling for Monarch’s boiler fund through the auction of a very special item courtesy of BBC’s ‘Flog It’ programme.

Since being abandoned at Island Harbour following fires and abuse, the 1937-built PS Ryde has quickly deteriorated and has become a dangerous structure in great need of attention. Very little of the fittings survived the onslaught of vandals and treasure hunters over the years and with news that she was imminently to be cut up, the crew of PS Monarch, which was berthed in her shadow, were given permission to go aboard and salvage anything that might be left.

As a result, on 16 June, the solid brass engine console, which has taken months of restoration work, will be sold at Island Auction Rooms as part of the BBC programme. The console is utterly unique and experts from the series were unable to value it as they’d never seen one before!

All proceeds from the auction are to be ploughed into the appeal as Monarch needs to raise £15,000 for a new boiler. PS Monarch is now operating out of Newport Harbour on a regular basis. For full information about the auction, or to become a volunteer crew member on Monarch, visit www.medinamonarch.co.uk

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