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ANNUAL RALLY 2004Milton Keynes MuseumSaturday 15/Sunday 16 MayThis year was perhaps our best ever Annual Rally and AGM: more people, more mowers and the best possible weather. As always our members came from all over the UK to be at the Museum. We did a quick count and there were over 200 machines on show during the weekend. This is a small selection of the mowers seen at the event. Click on any of the thumbnails to see a larger version of the picture. GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN
Meeting up with old friends and making new ones is a big part of the rally. With members coming from all over the UK, the Milton Keynes event is usually the only chance to see each other every year. And there's always something new to see. JUST FOR REFERENCE The event is an ideal opportunity to have a closer look at different mowers to see how they work and where the various parts go. This is especially useful for people who are trying to restore an incomplete mower. A number of members were looking closely at this 1920s Greens Motor Mower for this reason.
THAT'S QUITE UNUSUAL
The Annual Rally always attracts some of the best mowers from members' collections and this year was no exception. Although seemingly a common machine, the Greens Utility is in fact quite an unusual beast so it was great to see three different sizes of the model at the rally brought by Stan & Jonathan Hardwick. ARE YOU SURE THAT'S RIGHT?
Members like to exchange ideas on how to preserve and restore their machines. This often leads to some intense discussions. "MY NEWEST RESTORATION"
Being so early in the season the Annual Rally is often the first chance for members to show off their latest restoration projects completed over the preceding winter. David Merchant only put the final transfers on his newly restored Atcoscythe the night before the rally. He bought the machine at the rally in 2003. WE'LL NEVER FIGURE THIS OUT!
Adrian & Elsa brought along a Qualcast Panther so that the blade could be sharpened on the Museum's cylinder grinder. They took the mower apart and after the blade had been reground put it back in again. The mower was soon back on the grass and cutting. GENERAL VIEWS These images show some general views of the event.
A GOOD WORK OUT We always encourage members to demonstrate their mowers working and this year quite a few took the opportunity to show off their machines in the Museum's large expanse of grass.
The first image shows Jack Asquith with one of his Ransomes motor mowers while the other two show Roger Wilkinson with his Dennis motor mower. A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE Lawn mower history doesn't end in the 1950s and even some of the very recent machines are now becoming collectors items. Brian Radam of the British Lawnmower Museum brought along a selection of modern machines including one of the first solar powered mowers and a remote controlled "robotic mower". These drew much attention from everyone present.
MORE INTERESTING MACHINES
There's always lots to see at the event. Left to right these mowers are: Keynsham motor mower, 1920s. OOH, THAT'S A LONG ONE... The hand mowers on either side of the large motor mower were designed especially for cutting the grass on banks or slopes. They each have an extra long handle that allowed the operator to stand at the top of the bank on level ground while using the mower on the slope. They both belong to John Barnard.
YOU DON'T SEE ONE OF THESE EVERY DAY!
There are always a few mowers that even the most avid collector hasn't seen. From left to right these are: AND THE WINNERS ARE... Each year club members at the rally choose their favourite mower and the owner of that machine receives a special award, The Andrew Grout Plate, named after one of our founder members.
This year the prize went to John Barnard for his Lloyds Motor Mower, a motorised sidewheel that dates from the 1930s. In the image on the left Andrew (left) is presenting John with the prize while John is seen with the mower in the image on the right. This year our Charlie Jones Award for the member who has made a positive contribution to the Club was given to the Hardwick family for their help over the years. In addition to attending many events the Hardwicks organise the club's rally at the Bedfordshire Steam Rally each September.
We also organised a "mystery object" competition which involved members trying to identify a number of mower parts. The prize was won by Alan Hardwick who correctly identified all six items. Alan looks a bit confused in this image but it was obviously just a pretence! PREVIOUS YEARS... Check out the images from the: |
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