February 2005

Maurice Craven
Yorkshire Transport
Report - J.G.Virco

Our February meeting welcomed for the first time Maurice Craven who is founder and secretary of the West Yorkshire Group of the National Vintage Tractot and Engine Club, who meet In Harrogate.

His slide presentation was very much a mixed bag - including traction engines, static engines and tractors, both working and at rallies around country. We were informed that International Tractors were once built at Jowetts, now the site ot Morrisons at Idle, Bradford.

Rural and coastal farming was seen to good effect between the late 1950’s and late 1960’s, an interesting view of a Half Track Ferguson with plough pushing sand on the East Yorkshire coast for foundations to construct a sea defence wall for a cliff top holiday home (for a resident who could afford such work). The same tractor succumbed to the high tide and got bogged down, and so the battle continues to no avail!

Maurice has a collection of tractors and spends his time restoring them. He came across thousands of slides from a house clearance, many of which he showed depicting by-gone pastoral scenes. He will be back next year.