How on earth did I ever get involved with tractors with my background? See how it shapes out with this potted history.
I served a 5 year apprenticeship 1959/1964 as a Fitter and Turner in the Royal Naval Armament Depot at Gosport in Hampshire. On completion of my apprenticeship I travelled the world working with naval guns on HM and foreign Ships. I also served three separate tours of duty on the Rock of Gibraltar, the first tour in 1966 for duration of 4 years and 3 years duration for the other two.
Not a tractor in sight! Regrets - none - except being forced to scrap my 1939 SS jaguar. A beautiful car but with electrics shot and the body work rusted out I could not afford to restore it on my then apprenticeship money. Luckily in those days you could buy 4 gallons of petrol and still get change from a pound, so I bought a 1939 Austin 10 from the breakers yard for £10.00 replaced the engine with a 1935 engine I had restored earlier, it run like a Swiss watch - never could get the alarm to work! But, that too was sold when we moved to Gibraltar in 1966.
Promotions and site movements to satisfy my master, the MOD, found me working at Bath and latterly at Abbey Wood, Bristol. Up till then I had worked hands-on with guns and their safety, but now found myself associated with gun ammunition, explosives and the important matter of explosive safety, mostly sat at a desk in front of a computer. I yearned for some grease under my finger nails, no chance with my Subaru - it never missed a beat!
But then, in 1998, a chance meeting at a formal dinner reception changed all that. It was my dear wife who struck up a conversation with the gentleman next to her, a farmer by the name of Burnell Sparks of Tudor Farm, West Harptree, Bristol (sadly killed in a motoring accident) and mentioned that me, her husband, had always dreamed of restoring a tractor. What a lovely man, he got talking to me later about tractors and their restoration but I explained that as our semi-detached house in a nice cosy estate would not be conducive to restoring tractors perhaps and a small engine might be a more suitable option. Burnell replied immediately "I have two in one of my old barns", come round to the farm and you can have them, and so I did, collecting a small Clinton, with reduction drive and a Petter A1. That is what got me started in dabbling with old engines.
What started me in tractors is another story.