Ouse Valley Group
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O  use Valley Group
Based in Bedfordshire, Cradle of the UK Tractor Industry of the National Vintage Tractor & Engine Club w   ww.ovtc.org.uk
2013 Summer Newsletter To contact the Editor, with your articles, news items, items wanted, items for sale, or anything else :-
NB. This newsletter is both posted out to Members, and also placed on the Club Website - www.ovtc.org.uk. To reduce the likelihood of automated web crawlers finding Club Member e-mail addresses, and then spamming them, the @ in e-mail addresses has been replaced with an (AT) - so, if e-mailing someone, just put in a @ instead of the (AT). The Date for our St Judes Farm, Haynes, Working Rally has been moved to a Week Later than usual, to Sat/Sun 28/29 Sept 2013 Theme is Fordson, Ford & Their Conversions The Chairman’s Ramblings Now into my second year as Chairman, and doing well I hope, where did the first year go? A long cold winter, we had some good winter meetings at the Bowls Club, thanks to Donald, plus a visit to Maskells to look at their collection, where there was a good turn out as well. I have been quite busy at work and down the farm so not been able to get out much so far this year. Shane bought a tractor so we've been sorting that out so he can use it, just about done now. We had to re-drill the wheat like a lot of farmers have done, plus we have set peas this year, for the pigs. By the time you read this we will have had our last BBQ at Howard’s Place, many thanks to Howard and his family for entertaining us so royally over the years. We are looking for a new venue for next year, please let me know if you can help on that. I have had to cancel the road run on July the 7th at Maulden but will try to arrange something else later in the year. There is a road run organised by Silsoe Young Farmers and a fun day at College Farm, Lower Gravenhurst, on 30th June 2013. You are all invited to join in, contact Alice Redman, 01525 860717. At the last Committee Meeting the Committee decided to look at the Winter Meetings to see if we could do things better/different, cut down on speakers, have “talk among yourselves nights”, quiz night, and a party at Christmas. Let us know your thoughts please or maybe you could do a talk on what you have been doing, Donald’s the man to talk to for that. At this year's rally we are looking for toy tractors for the kids to play on in the ring when not in use. I was wondering if you could help? Please can you take a look in the back of your garages or sheds, do you have any children’s pedal tractors or diggers that you would be willing to donate to the club, or sell for a small fee? If yes, please contact me or Sarah (07900373163, sarah.willis79(AT)gmail.com) We are also looking for a tug of war rope to buy or loan as I am looking to put more on in the ring this year, don’t be shy, come and play with your tractors to make it better for the public. Have you looked at the new web site www.ovtc.org.uk? Annamarie is doing a great job for us. Let her have your photos or comments on what you've been doing tractor wise, and she can put them on the site for you. We are also on Facebook. The Working Rally will be with us soon, I hope you are looking out for something to bring along, we also want people to give a hand setting up and taking down the rally, all help gratefully accepted. Well, that's it for now see you around and about some time, thanks Keith. 2013 May Visit The club had a very enjoyable visit to the Maskell Museum in Wilstead on Thursday 9th May, where we were hosted by Darren & Richard Maskell and some of their relatives and friends. Light refreshments were provided, and the Club made a donation to the Maskell’s chosen Charity, which is Medical Detection Dogs - http://medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk/, who happen to be based in Milton Keynes. Medical Detection Dogs train dogs to be Cancer & Bio-Detection Dogs, or as Medical Alert Dogs. A Joke, Courtesy of The Chairman, via Facebook A man drove to the farm in the village & knocks on the door. A boy came to the door, “Is your dad in” said the man? “No” said the boy, “He has gone to the shops with mum”. “Is your older brother in then”? “No, he went with them”. Well said the man, “Could you tell your dad I need a word about your brother getting my daughter pregnant”? The boy replied “Dad charges £500 for the bull & £50 for the boar, but I don’t know what he charges for my brother services”. Update from National on the Yellow Card Public Liability Policy Sarah Willis, our Secretary, has received from Brian Chester, Chairman of the NVTEC, an update on the Yellow Card Public Liability Insurance Policy. She wants all of our Club Members to see the latest information :- Clarification of our Yellow Card Public Liability Policy that The NVTEC hold with the NFU The NVTEC has held this Public Liability Policy for many years and historically this was sufficient for all exhibits on the rally field. First of all it was offered to those groups who wished to take it up as some groups had their own schemes that they had set up for their members. Due to changes in legislation, if the Club were to continue to offer Public Liability insurance to our members, the way we could offer this cover and the type of machines covered by Public Liability Insurance had changed. I will deal with these but probably not in the order that they became law. Firstly due to changes in Insurance Law we were not allowed to “sell” Insurance to our members, the only way the NVTEC could continue to offer its members Public Liability Insurance was to offer it to every member and for it to be part of the membership package which is how it is today and why it is part of the membership and why membership of the NVTEC is not available without taking the Public Liability Insurance. There are several similar policies available from the Vintage clubs around the UK, some have a slightly different wording to our Policy, the most picked up on is that our club Policy says “Agriculturally related” not “any Vintage exhibit”, which is stated in some of the other available public liability policies, we have specified this to be a bit more restrictive in the type of exhibit that is covered, being a club that is mainly agriculturally related. Anyone who has a specific query about an exhibit that they have or are unsure as to whether or not it would be covered under the NVETC/NFU Public Liability Policy, they are asked to contact Wright and Wescott who are the NFU agents who we deal with about this policy and whose number is given at the end of this article. Secondly due to changes in the Road Traffic Acts, any place to which the public has access becomes a public place and self-propelled vehicles in such a place need Road Traffic Act Insurance, until then Tractors on the rally field could be insured using Public Liability Insurance. This is why today all self-propelled vehicles on a rally field need Road Traffic Act Insurance. The change in legislation was primarily to stop “boy racers” racing and burning rubber in car parks, but had an effect on the use of tractors on a rally field, as the rally field then became a Public Place. Since then it has been quite usual for the subject of insurance to crop up at National Executive meetings, with often the comment “Not again”, so I have tried to get an answer from the NFU as to what type of machine is covered by the Public liability Policy and what is not. The NVTEC/NFU Public Liability Policy covers the following :-
Anything else on the rally field requires RTA insurance, as per the Road traffic Act 1988, “A person must not use a motor vehicle (or other public place) unless there is in force in relation to the use of the vehicle by that person such a policy of insurance or such a security in respect of third party risks as complies with the requirements of this Part of the Act”. A motor vehicle is defined as any mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads. There are several anomalies that raise their heads in our hobby, such as :-
The National Executive have had questions regarding the above classes of vehicles listed above as nos. 1-6, so I set out to try and remove the confusion that surrounds these classes of vehicles. It is all too easy to say that a steel wheeled tractor or a crawler tractor is not road registered and has never been used on a public road, however it IS a SELF PROPELLED machine and as described requires Road Traffic Act Insurance when used on a Rally field. The NFU has recently confirmed with me that ALL vehicles that fall under classes 1-6 above NEED RTA cover when exhibited on a rally field. I had a further question from a group member who put forward the question that his tractors were not road registered and would it be possible for him to obtain cheaper insurance due to the fact that his tractors were not used on the road, unfortunately the answer is that the rally field/event is deemed as a public place and as such vehicles displayed on such a place NEED Road Traffic Act Insurance. The minimum cover that a member needs to comply with the Road Traffic Act is Third Party Insurance Cover. There are several firms who specialise in insurance for older Vehicles especially tractors, Firms such as the NFU, Footman James, Peter James Insurance and Cherished Car Insurance can all provide quotations for Vintage tractors, it is a good idea to get a quote from two firms to get an idea of the sums involved. One point that is often overlooked that many tractors are not insured, as the owner will not be taking them to a rally in that year however please remember that should anything happen to the tractor when it is in storage damage or woe betide fire then there could not be a claim and the owner would have to bear the loss. Tractor insurance often costs in the region of £30 per year per tractor, is £30 too much to pay for peace of mind when your tractor is stored in your shed, should anything happen!! I hope that this article will answer most queries that members have regarding the type of cover that is need in conjunction with exhibiting at rallies, shows, displays and ploughing matches in the UK. Any member who has any questions regarding insurance and the type of cover required is asked to contact Wright and Wescott in Wooton-under Edge Gloucestershire who handle the NVTEC NFU Public Liability policy and are knowledgeable in Vintage Vehicle insurance Their telephone number is 01453 842386 or 01453 569668, e-mail wotton-under-edge@nfumutual.co.uk. Brian Chester, Chairman NVTEC, NVTEC 2013© 37th Working Rally, St Judes Farm, Haynes, Sat/Sun, 21st/22nd Sept 2013 The theme for this year’s rally is Fordson, Ford & Their Conversions. Blue Force, the (relatively) new Club for such tractors has asked if they and their Members may come along and show some off their tractors. All other tractors and exhibits will of course be equally as welcome as in other years. If you have a Ford, Fordson or a Conversion then please being it along, and if you have one that is currently in bits or not running then it would be great if it was ready for the Rally. Hats, Shirts & Fleeces The Club has for several months had Polo Shirts at £12 and caps at £7.50 available with the Club Logo on them. We have also added fleeces to our clothing range at £20. The clothing is very serviceable, (for which, read, doesn’t show the dirt). The clothing is available from Committee Member Richard Warboys, please phone him with your requirements and he will bring along to a Club meeting, Richard may be contacted on 01234 294055. A Question - ? If Windolene is used to clean Windows, why isn’t a Trampoline used to clean Tramps? 5th Annual Ploughing Match, Segenhoe Manor, Ridgmont, Sun 24th March 2013 It was with great sadness that the decision was made by Max & me on the Wednesday beforehand to cancel the Match. It was clearly not going to dry up underfoot by the Sunday, and, as it turned out, the Thursday before was a nice day, but then by the Saturday the bad weather had set in again, with snow coming down on the Saturday and Sunday. I want to thank my wife Jane for helping me on the Wednesday & Thursday for phoning the 115 entrants to let them know it was cancelled (not helped by many entrants not having answer-phones). A lot of people asked if we would be holding the match when it dried out, but the answer had to be “no”, as the farmer would need to get on making a seed bed and drilling maize as soon as conditions improved. I’m writing this bit on Thursday 11th April, by when in other years most of my veg garden would be sown; I still haven’t done anything, after a few dry days it’s now raining again, though we are promised 20ºC by Sunday & Monday. This seems to me to have been the worst winter since 1962-3, though that was much colder & snowier. Donald (Update on Fri 31st May, hot today, said to be hottest day of year so far, also said that this spring has been coldest since 1963). A Big Thank You to Howard Since time immemorial, the Club’s June Barbeque has been held at Howard’s Place at Houghton Conquest, where we have also been able to look at his collection of interesting “stuff”. Howard has decided that due to his declining health he can no longer continue to host the BBQ at his Farm. We all thank Howard, and his family, sincerely for their hospitality over the years. As a mark of our thanks to Howard, an engraved glass was presented to him on the occasion of our last Club BBQ at his Place, on Thursday 13th June. Cardington Sheds - NOT Hangers! - The Continuing Story The Shed nearest to Bedford, Shed No. 1 - the left hand one as you view them from the A600 - is having a significant amount of work being done to it. Since before Christmas 2012, the owners have been renewing metal sheets, before Christmas 2012 the side nearest Bedford was being worked on, but, in May 2013, the sheets have been removed from both ends, and from much of the roof, prior to new sheets being fitted. If you haven’t seen the Sheds recently, it’s worth a trip out that way on a sunny day. Rushden Cavalcade & Smith’s Sunshine Mystery Tour, A Tale From Sarah Willis After what seems like such a long winter, probably due to the lack of rallies last year, it is always good to get out for the first rally of the season, Rushden Cavalcade. Mark set off with his Nuffield towing the caravan and met up with Steve Ward, with his Nuffield, and Clive Monk with his Allis ED40. Friday evening in the beer tent is always one of the best nights of the season for me, catching up with friends that you haven’t seen for a while and a huge selection of beers to choose from. I sent Mark off with instructions to get me the pint with the strangest name – I ended up with a “Side Pocket for a Toad” - I can recommend it! We had a wonderful weekend, even the rain showers didn’t cause us any problems…it is always dry in the beer tent. One of the highlights of the 2013 Cavalcade was “Smith’s Sunshine Mystery Tour”. A 1962 Harrington Cavalier bus, purchased by the Smith family the previous weekend at Cheffins, was our mode of transport. On Sunday evening our Bus Driver “Mark Smith” arranged a mystery tour which was to leave at 6pm. It was a mystery as I don’t think even the driver knew where Smith’s Sunshine Tour Bus would end up! Approximately 20 people, 1 baby Freddie, a hand full of children and 2 dogs piled on the bus with strict orders that we all must be clean…this is a struggle for some of the engine and tractor drivers! As per orders, everyone scrubbed up well…except for one of the dogs, Poppy, who insisted on wedging her head between the head rests in front and rubbed the day’s soot on to the two bright white head rest covers…she was in the dog house! Joe sat in the front row with Nanna and Granddad (Pam and Pete) and promoted himself to ticket collector, telling everyone they would need a ticket when next boarding the bus! With a cheer and a couple of verses of Wheels on the Bus, we all set off down the road. No surprises - our first stop was at The Chequers at Yeldon - www.thechequersyelden.co.uk. Before getting back on the bus, we all had to find “a ticket” as per Joe’s orders, which we duly handed in to the ticket collector. Luckily there were lots of dandelions on the side of the road, which were accepted as “tickets”; Joe had a wonderful bouquet by the time everyone was back on. There was an official head count - “anyone who is not on board shout up”…silence - so we were off. Again, relatively predictably, our second stop was The Swan at Newton Bromswold, 01933413506, where we found a few more rally friends frequenting the pub garden. Another drink and we were back on board, this time daisies were the chosen ticket - except for 4 people who were hoping for a season ticket as they gave Joe daffodils, a log and a piece of coal! The bus ride was definitely a mystery trip, with my Dad, Jim, directing, so we ended up in the middle of a housing estate. It just so happens, this is where my Mum and Dad’s very (very) good friends Pete and Lorna live. Dad jumped off the bus and knocked on their door, on the pretext that the bus load of people all needed to use their facilities … we thought it was funny but we had all had a few beers. Mum and Dad’s friends thought it was fantastic and invited in the 20 adults, the baby, the handful of children and the 2 dogs in. The impromptu hospitality was great - there are not many people you could visit with a bus load of friends and family. After drinking them out of beer, everyone using their facilities, Joe re-arranging their garden, one of our dogs taking a fancy to Pete & Lorna’s dog, we bid them farewell and boarded the bus. With many verses of Wheels on the Bus, including a few adapted versions, we were back at the rally field. Thank you Smith’s Sunshine Mystery Tours - it was a truly memorable bus trip, and Pete & Lorna for your fantastic hospitality. Sarah Willis Thank You for that Sarah, what a marvellous night out, and it proves you can have fun with something old that isn’t a tractor - Let’s hear from some other Members about their activities - Sarah is a busy working Mum who could find time for writing this, so how about some of you retired old boys telling us what you’ve been up to - don’t worry if your English isn’t very good, Editor Donald will tidy it up if necessary - Ed Donald Alec Worbey’s Recollections on Goats In my very early youth, I was often called upon to go down to Elms Field about a mile away from our yard, to milk two goats, the time, anywhere between 6.00 am and 7.00 am and often again about six o’clock in the evening. Most days I went down there on my bike carrying a one gallon milk churn, my dog usually accompanied me, as he liked to be squirted in his mouth when I milked the goats. One goat we called Nan as she would come when called and was never chained up, as the others were, she had had a leg broken some years before by a horse kicking her, but she got about alright with a bit of a limp. My father was quite upset when she died, as she always went straight to him when he entered the field. We also had various Billy Goats over the years, some with horns and some without, and they were always kept on a long chain. One particular afternoon when I went down this field I walked over to the stables and came face to face with this Billy Goat, and he had no horns to get hold of and control him, he had broken loose and I knew I was no match for him, so I ran into the stable and when he came charging after me, I slammed the two inch door against his head. “That will put him straight”, I thought, but no, he stopped, shook his head, and on he came, I darted into the next stable, out that door, ran round the building and jumped up into a cart. He followed, looking at me as it to say “Now I’ve got you for keeping me chained up”, I was in the cart for quite a long time and when he wandered off for a while, I got down from the cart, took off for the field gate, about a hundred yards away, I think I would have beaten any Olympic runner, and I didn’t bother to open the gate, I just cleared it. Later when I though about it, I could never have jumped that normally, amazing what a bit of panic will do, or as they say, discretion is the better part of valour. Not all the Billy Goats were like that one, as most were very tame and could be easily handled. Going down the field to milk the goats on a nice summers evening, passing the odd courting couple wrestling in Mr Wallace’s clover crop, what better way could you spend an evening? Thank you for that Alec; let’s hear from some other Members, young or old, about their exploits. Ed Things to Do If you’re at a loose end on Sat or Sun 10th & 11th August, then the Midlands Group of the NVTEC’s Working Weekend at OId Dalby, about 6 miles NW of Melton Mowbray, famous for its Pork Pies, is a good place to be. It was rained off in 2012, but I was there in 2011 and there was some interesting stuff working, including a Perkins engines Dutra D4KB. - Donald If you know of a forthcoming event that may be a bit out of our area and perhaps not too well known about in these parts, then please let Donald know about it in good time so it can go in a future newsletter - and if you’ve been somewhere interesting, let us know about it as well. Meetings Programme 2013/14 Meet 2nd Thursday of the Month, 19.30 for 20.00 Wilstead Bowls Club, Jubilee Playing Field, Bedford Road, Wilstead, MK45 3HV Sept 12th Rally Plans (Rally date 27th & 28th Sept) All club Members and Club Night -
Plus we intend to hold a raffle with big prizes But - You’ve got to be in it to win it!! Date - TBA Road Run 2013 - Start Venue TBA Ray Gibbins, 01908 379800 Jan 9th Quiz Night - Volunteer wanted to set the quiz £1 per person entry, winner takes all, no team entries Feb 13th David Brown, Part 2 of the talk Colin Holwell Mar 13th JORDAN ENGINEERING of Little Cornard Jerv Jordan “A Small (but Clever) Business” www.jordanatveng.com (Motto - We're Not Big - But We Are Clever) April 10th AGM + Photo, & Caption Competition - Dave Smith + Donald Bowler Please bring along your farming, farm wildlife, old machinery & tractor photos
More Club Members Needed The January meeting seemed to have a record number of people, which is very encouraging for the ongoing success of the club, and I have noticed that there appear to be more young people taking an interest in the Club, some of whom came along to the visit to the Maskell Tractor Museum in Wilstead in May. If you know someone who is interested in tractors or implements, then please do tell them about the club, and if you see someone new at a meeting then please have a chat with them to make them feel welcome. Your Committee have decided to slightly change the format of club meetings. We will have fewer meetings with speakers, we will have some quizzes and the December meeting will take the form of a party, with Committee members providing the food. If you have ideas for speakers or visits, then please give Donald some details - a name & phone # or e-mail address please. And Finally, a Joke ………. :- A bloke starts his new job at the zoo and is given three tasks. First is to clear the exotic fish pool of weeds. As he does this a huge fish jumps out and bites him. To show who is boss, he beats it to death with a spade. Realizing his employer won't be very pleased he disposes of the fish by feeding it to the lions, as lions will eat anything. Moving on to the second job of clearing out the Chimp house, he is attacked by the chimps, who pelt him with coconuts. He swipes at two chimps with a spade killing them both. What can he do? Feed them to the lions, he says to himself, because lions eat anything, or so he believes. He hurls the chimp corpses into the lion enclosure. He moves on to the last job which is to collect honey from the South American Bees. As soon as he starts, he is attacked by the bees. He grabs the spade and smashes the bees to a pulp. By now he knows what to do and shovels them into the lions’ cage because lions eat anything. Later that day a new lion arrives at the zoo. He wanders up to another Lion and says "What's the food like here?" The lion says: "Absolutely brilliant, today we had Fish, Chimps and Mushy Bees"! Footnote
This newsletter is both posted out to Members, and also placed on the Club Website - www.ovtc.org.uk. To reduce the likelihood of automated web crawlers finding Club Member e-mail addresses, and then spamming them, the @ in e-mail addresses has been replaced with an (AT) - so, if e-mailing someone, just put in a @ instead of the (AT). Page of |
