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| The Friends of Ferguson Heritage Ltd.- Magazine Issue 30, February 2004 |
Every member of FoFH receives three issues of the high quality, glossy magazine each year.
The content is always inspiring and interesting: the magazine alone is worth the membership subscription. Here are some of the main items in issue 30, February 2004:-
Front Cover:
Bitten by the ploughing bug in Germany, Ferguson enthusiasts enjoyed a weekend's instruction in ploughing techniques but there are still few opportunities to put their skills to the test in vintage ploughing matches. Read the full story on page ten.
Back Cover:
A wintry setting in the early 1980s for a MF600 series tractor at the Massey Ferguson Training Centre at Stoneleigh.
Newsline
Event planning for FoFH's tenth birthday is well under way;
John Moffit's 1903 Ivel has completed it's 100th birthday celebrations in aid of the UK hospice movement well ahead of the £100,000 target, raising £120,000. Well done John and Ivel!
FoFH won the award for the best stand at "Farming Yesteryear" at Scone Place (again!);
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This picture on page 7 caught my eye, appearing to show some hungry Fergies waiting their turn to eat at table. Actually, it shows members of the Sudbury Machinery Preservation Society lunching amongst John Moffit's Hunday collection at Stocksfield, Northumberland. |
2003 Massey Expo in N.America (pages 8,9) The very knowledgeable John Farnworth popped over to Canada and saw "perhaps the finest display of M-H implements and machinery ever seen". Another well illustrated article- you'll have to get the magazine to see the pictures... |
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Vintage Weekend for Ferguson Ploughmen in Germany Article by Norman Tietz, FoFH Coordinator for Germany. This two-day event in Rendsburg, close to the Danish border, left Ferguson enthusiasts looking forward to another chance of learning ploughing skills, after a first highly successful weekend course in 2003. We need more events like this, in the opinion of the web editor. |
Ireland's Ferguson School of Mechanized Farming (pages 12, 13) Harry Ferguson's School of Farm Mechanization at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, UK, became the blueprint for centres in other countries for spreading the gospel about his Ferguson System. One such centre was in Ireland, and Dr. Austin M. O'Sullivan, Curator of the Irish Agricultural Museum at Johnstown, Wexford, which has recently installed a new permanent Ferguson System exhibition, has been researching its history. Funny, the web editor was just saying that we need more educational events, and now we learn that HF was doing it half a century ago.... |
 Look, you've missed a bit: now come back and get it right.. mind my foot... |
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Road Run raises £1000 Page 14 tells how twenty-eight tractors and one crawler rolled in to Sutton, Cambridgeshire, for the annual Spring Road Run. £1000 was raised for the chosen charity, Sue Ryder Care. Good people, these tractor lovers, aren't they? |
On page 18, Roger Thulbourne has scanned the archives and put together a definitive record of key dates and production landmarks in the manufacture of TE20, FE35, MF35 and MF65 tractors at Banner Lane, Coventry, 1946-1964.
Page 19 has news of the new FoFH Ploughing Challenge, and also pictures a member of the New Zealand parliament driving a Fergie up the parliament building steps, as part of a protest demonstration.
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Model Making Yes, that's a model pictured left, yes, really. In one of his occasional articles, Dutch contributor Adri Terhoeve talks about model making, and this issue's topic is "British Beef with an Italian Flavour", discussing choice of project, and source of components, with special reference to Italian manufacturers. |
Holidays bring heritage happiness Stephen Watts writes from North Wales, telling how he bought a tractor seen in a colleague's holiday photographs! He also describes the results of his tractor hunting while on holiday in Cyprus. |
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A Working Collection
On page 31, New Zealand contractor Ben Beasley tells us about his remarkable fleet of Ferguson and Massey-Ferguson equipment.
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The amazing Harry Ferguson Part 2 in the four-part series is on pages 32 to 38. First appearing in the Sunday Express in 1965, this series is on the life of the man whose vision helped make Banner Lane in its hey-day the world's biggest plant of its kind. |
In the Workshop Two articles supplied by Dick Russell. One describes the process of "stitching" (picture right) to repair frost damage to an engine block, while the other shows ways of fixing steering joint leaks. |
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Postbag Another interesting batch of member's letters and pictures, including one from FoFH's coordinator for Germany, Norman Tietz. Remember the mystery baler pictured on the back cover of issue 28? Well, Norman reveals that it is a very interesting baler, and it's all in the magazine.... |
They're just the highlights: there's plenty more in the magazine.
Three issues a year, all free if you're a member... Take a look at the membership page.
