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Protected: Message to Members 13 April 2020
This is a special message from the Steam Plough Club to convey our very best wishes and good health to all members during this international emergency.
Along with just about everything else our Annual General Meeting scheduled for 4th of April has not taken place. With all the uncertainties it is not possible yet to say whether this is a postponement or a cancellation.
Part of that meeting was to have elected a new president for the following three years. The committee has nominated James Hodgson and James and I have decided that he should take over from me in an acting capacity as from 4th of April. It has been an immense privilege for me to have served as president and I know that James is looking forward very much to taking over.
In the meantime, the club remains ticking over even though most events have been cancelled for this year. I know that Peter Longfoot will continue with the Steam Plough Times due in June. As an idea we would like to ask members if they would like to contribute with their own reminiscences of club events both recent and in the past. We can include these on the website or in the Steam Plough Times. It would be good to hear from you. Please contact me John@steamploughclub.org.uk and Peter Editor@steamploughclub.org.uk .
I know that some advanced planning has taken place for a Challenge later this year but there will be some doubt about this now. We will keep you posted. It has already been decided with Joe Nourish to hold over a Hands On Weekend until next year.
I am sure that you will continue to support the club in these unexpected times. If you have not yet paid your subscription for this year due on 1 January, I hope you will do so.
Looking forward to happier times and with best wishes
John Billard
Immediate Past President
13 April 2020
Michael Owen Davies 1930-2021
We are saddened to learn of the passing of one of the club’s most honoured members. Michael Davies has died peacefully on 12 May. He was 90.
He will be remembered for encouraging steam ploughing ever since he bought and restored, with Bob Griffin, two Fowler BB1s in 1970 and the successful project to bring back six Z7 engines from Mozambique in 1976. Michael was always ready to pass on his knowledge and to encourage practical experience to anyone with a keen interest. As well as the SPC Michael was dedicated to working with the National Traction Engine Trust to ensure professional and safe working of engines of all types.
Michael served as President and Vice President and was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the Steam Plough Club. He was a kind and thoughtful man much appreciated by all who knew him.
Due to the ongoing COVID restrictions, there will be a private cremation (invitation only). Members of Michael’s immediate family are planning a thanksgiving/memorial service in the local church in due course when circumstances permit.
Details will be announced when we know more.
We offer our deep condolences to Jan, Anthea and Jeremy and families in their sad loss.
Those kind enough to send condolences should write to Anthea Davies. c/o Hill Farm, Dassett Road, Avon Dassett, Southam, CV47 2AA, or e mail anthea@antheadavies.com
John Billard 17 May 2021
(A further appreciation will appear in the September Steam Plough Times)
Hands On 2021
Arrangements are being made to hold a Hands On event over the weekend 4th-5th September, near Uppingham on the Rutland/Leicester border, with grateful thanks to hosts Joe and Mary Nourish.
The event will take place subject to there being no restrictions on social gatherings and travel in place at the time, and of course, weather permitting.
Participants will be given expert tuition on the handling of steam ploughing engines and the implements to be used. Numbers will be limited so everyone has the opportunity to drive and crew the engines, the plough and the cultivator.
The weekend starts with safety briefing followed by an explanation of the working of the engines and implements. After raising steam, the participants will attach the implements and set off to the working area for the day’s work. All activities are done under supervision.
Camping and caravan space is available on site, lunch packs and soft drinks are provided, and an evening dinner will be arranged for the Saturday night. The weekend will conclude at 5pm on Sunday.
The cost for the weekend is £195. This includes an instructional DVD – “An Introduction to Two Engine Cable Cultivation” that provides detailed information in preparation for the weekend. Places can be secured for a deposit of £50 which will be returned in full should the event have to be cancelled. Alternatively, the deposit will remain valid for a place at a future Hands On.
Michael Beeby’s Funeral
Mikes funeral took place on 14th January at Rempstone parish church, conducted by the Rev Tim Parker. Mike was steam-hauled there. The weather was not kind and it snowed during the interment.
It was a very traditional church occasion for which I am sure Mike would have been pleased, Covid restrictions notwithstanding. I spoke on behalf of the club, the NTET and the steam movement generally.
The caption with the SPC flowers read “With fond memories of a skilled and gentle man”. They can be seen centrally on the trailer.
John Billard
Founder Member Dies
We are very sorry to record the death of Brian Parsons on 1st November. He was member No 4 and attended the inaugural meeting at the Great Northern Hotel in Peterborough in December 1966.
Brian became the club’s first treasurer, a post he held for a year. He was part of an active team encouraging new members at club stands in early years and became the SPC safety officer in 1971 including a period on the committee. He became a regular contributor to the Steam Plough Times and greatly assisted Bill Smith as records officer deciphering and copying records at the Museum of English Rural Life at Reading. He always took an active interest in Club affairs and until recently regularly attended the annual general meeting wherever it was held.
Another link to the foundation of the club has been broken. We send our deep condolences to Mary and his family.
John Billard
14 November 2020
Godfrey Sturgeon 1926 – 2020
We are very sorry to tell you that Godfrey Sturgeon has died at 93 of old age. He joined the club in 1969 and became an honorary life member having served on the committee for 23 years until 2005. The club meant a lot to him and he was pleased to produce his “Norfolk Notes” for the Steam Plough Times setting out the coming and goings from his home county. With his wife Barbara they were always willing to help in every club activity sometimes a long way from home.
Godfrey was born at Aldham in Suffolk in 1926. He was an only child. His father was a steam plough contractor in Suffolk and when, in 1931 Godfrey was still a child, the steam engines were sold they moved to Pear Tree Farm at Hinderclay where his father farmed. The farm prospered during the Second World War, and after the war they moved in 1948 to a bigger farm, at Grange Farm Tibenham.
In 1951 he married Barbara, whose family had earlier owned the farm, and she was able to move back into the house in which she had been born. Godfrey worked the farm with his father, and later with his son Philip.
Godfrey had a lifelong fascination for steam engines and particularly steam ploughing. He spent much of his spare time attending rallies across East Anglia and the south of England, meeting his friends. He was for many years a Church Warden of Tibenham Church, and enjoyed social events such as scoring for the W.I. Ladies Darts Team. At home he would be found looking through his traction engine books or making a big fuss of all his farm cats of which he was so fond.
He was a kind and gentle man and he will be very much missed by his family and those who remember him in the Steam Plough Club. Barbara died two years ago but he is survived by his son Philip, daughter Margaret, and two grand children.
Godfrey Sturgeon, farmer and SPC member for 51 years, died 21 August 2020.
Moonshine
As a great historian on such matters Peter has used his knowledge in publishing “Moonshine”.
This book has taken eight years to reach the point where it is ready to print.
You may find the title Moonshine a little baffling, there is a full history in the book explaining how Moonshine came to be Moonshine. Extending to 98 pages it is the story of the clearing of derelict land in Huntingdonshire during the 1939-45 war by the Huntingdonshire War Agricultural Executive Committee. Forever known as the War Ag., their base was at Moonshine.
Norman Box’s Gyrotillers were used in the early stages of the campaign to clear the blackthorne and the scale of the job carried such importance that on two later occasions the area was visited by none other than Paul Appleby, the Under Secretary of State for the United States Department of Agriculture. He came to see what use the tractors sent on Lend-Lease were being put to.
A complete history of the Fowler Gyrotiller is included, as are all the details of the Bentley motor cars that went through Norman Box’s hands.
Many photographs are included of the operations at Moonshine as are Fowler Works photographs and factory records of the Gyrotillers, these extend beyond just the machines owned by Box. Included are build details and repairs carried out on them.
