Tractor fans young and old enjoy spring run
A LARGE crowd of tractor fans gathered in the courtyard of the National Trust of Guernsey’s Folk and Costume Museum yesterday as the year’s first tractor run took to the roads.
Rain in the run-up to the departure did not deter visitors from the event and the good news for drivers of vehicles without a cab was that the sun was out by the time the 26 vintage tractors drove off.
Vintage and Classic Tractor Club chairman Ron Le Cras said 30 members had been present for breakfast in the Saumarez Park Cafe but he thought some did not fancy the idea of driving in the rain so had probably just arrived in their cars, but overall it was not a bad turnout.
Among the drivers was new club member Paul Bannier, who bought his tractor in November last year, just in time to take part in a Christmas run.
The 1970 bright yellow Massey Fergusson 40 stood out amidst a sea of red vehicles and Mr Bannier said it was an industrial model that was not designed for farms. This one used to have a front loader and would have been used for heavy lifting.
‘I’ve fancied getting a tractor for a few years,’ he said.
Grandson Louis Prout, 3, enjoyed the chance to sit behind the wheel and said he wanted to drive it one day.
There were many young visitors enjoying seeing the old vehicles, and kitchen roll was pressed into service to dry seats of the cab-less tractors for the children.
Arlo Le Page, 2, did not take long to find the tractor’s horn and clearly enjoyed trying it out. Mum Laura McCarthy said that he had always loved tractors. ‘It was his first word after mum and dad,’ she said.
The goal was for the tractors to get to the Occupation Museum in the Forest but the route was all in the mind of Edwin Le Sauvage, who led the convoy off towards Le Friquet on his 1962 Massey Fergusson 35.
