Saffron Walden Crank Up
 

A little late I know but here are a few pictures from this years revived Saffron Walden Crank Up, a small rally but a great atmosphere, there was no ring events over the weekend but several engines steamed around the site. [IMG]file:///C:/Users/Harry/Desktop/Photos/STEAM%20RALLIES/Saffron%20Walden%20Crank%20Up%2010th%20May%202015/IMG_0807.JPG[/IMG]
file:///C:/Users/Harry/Desktop/Photos/STEAM%20RALLIES/Saffron%20Walden%20Crank%20Up%2010th%20May%202015/IMG_0797.JPG
file:///C:/Users/Harry/Desktop/Photos/STEAM%20RALLIES/Saffron%20Walden%20Crank%20Up%2010th%20May%202015/IMG_0752.JPG
file:///C:/Users/Harry/Desktop/Photos/STEAM%20RALLIES/Saffron%20Walden%20Crank%20Up%2010th%20May%202015/IMG_0785.JPG
file:///C:/Users/Harry/Desktop/Photos/STEAM%20RALLIES/Saffron%20Walden%20Crank%20Up%2010th%20May%202015/IMG_0812.JPG

Hi Harry - Can't see the pictures I'm afraid. You need to upload them to a server.

http://i.imgur.com/ZwTM9oj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2Fl3Xco.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/voQpxP6.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2JG8A6a.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/G3ExVYw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/W1KrP2Q.jpg

This was a good event I thought. Nice relaxed atmosphere.

EJ545 where did that Garrett start its life?

Great pictures.

It started life owned by the ministry of munitions, the next owner is unrecorded

Presumably she must have been in North Wales at some point, just wondered where.

For the record, she left the works 1st October 1918, sold in one of the many government sales 1919 to Malcolm Bloomfield, Debenham, Suffolk. Late 1920 Bloomfield's carried out the conversion to showman's tractor for Fred Harris, showman who's winter quarters were at Clare, Suffolk. She worked throughout until my father purchased her early 1954 from Fred.

In regards to the Carmarthenshire registration, according to Alan Duke and Tony Brown following WW1 the government allowed registrations from little used districts to be allocated to vehicles from other areas, due to the high demand of Ex Ministry vehicles requiring registrations.

'EJ' is actually a Cardiganshire registration number.

I have always felt that like many Garrett 4CDs it originally had a 'BJ' registration - painted on.... A later interpretation, perhaps from a rusted plate was 'EJ' - which as you say, Trystan, is Cardiganshire. I don't think there is a record of it in Cards registration.
A similar instance in my opinion is the Burrell Scenic, Perseverance the Second, whose registration is WR9110, but for a few years in the fifties ran as 'WB'.

I must say that I always thought that it was a more plausible explanation for the EJ registration. Particularly given the first owner was recorded in Suffolk.

The plate on 'Cock of the North' is another example AB or AH etc, also Jessetts GND convertable.

My thoughts as the owner, Alan Duke's (RLS) own records clearly state EJ 545 being recorded during 1930's, their being a number of photo's taken before my late father purchased her from Fred Harris which clearly show EJ 545 these being 1954.;)

When checks were made at Ipswich records office no records could be found of BJ 545 relating to a Garrett 4CD. Having known a number of the Bloomfield family including Malcolm, although the company records of those early years were destroyed it was always believed it was registered soon after WW1 with the EJ reg number

It would be easy to check as the registers survive for both BJ and EJ.

The Cardiganshire Registers and card index survive complete from EJ1 to UEJ 742N at:

Ceredigion Archives, Old Town Hall, Queen's Road, Aberystwyth, SY23 2EB.

(01970 633967) (Open Mondays to Fridays)

Kevin

Another thought. Assuming the Cardiganshire records draw a blank like JR suggests.

As a Garrett tractor, it will have been required by law to be 'registered' under the Heavy Motor Car act when new. I have read of no exemptions for the ministry, similarly other ministry engines all seem to be registered when new, rather than unregistered.

There would have been no need to re register an engine already registered on the HMC after sale by the ministry post war.

There are instances however of it happening in 1921 with the new rules.

This Heavy Motor Car registration was sometimes part of the general register, sometimes it was separate.

I think I have read somewhere that Norfolk used a AH 0 prefix to denote the HMC status, often seen on Burrell tractors, but I too have read about two vehicles both carrying the same 'registration number' in some counties. That is one vehicle on the general register, the other on the HMC register.

I notice that the Suffolk Records office suggest that they have : ''Registers BJ 1 - 7869 (1903-23); HMC Register 1905-23''. This is suggestive that the HMC register was separate from the general register in Suffolk.

Have you searched both registers for BJ 545?.

That said 545 is very low in the HMC series vs the other BJ registered 4CD's of similar age.

And thinking about it, they only stopped issuing BJ's in May 1925, so demand cant have been that high in 1918

I also notice that BJ 545X isnt so far away from some of the surviving ministry 4CDs of the same age. Perhaps not only the B changed to a E, but a number went missing at the same time?.

Are any of BJ 5450 - 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 in the HMC index a 4CD I wonder?

All speculation of course, and based on JRs assertion that there is no record of it in Cardiganshire.

Interesting. Brothers Garrett No4 CD was originally registered HR102 when it came out on Ministry use. It gained the current BJ reg during the 40s/50s when owned and used by Jesse Vine.

Jon Garmans also seems to have been re registered post war. However they both will have needed to have been registered when new.

Email from Ceredigion Records.....

Thank you for your e-mail. EJ is indeed the letter prefix for Cardiganshire vehicles.
However I am sorry to say that although we have the two vehicle registration volumes for the motor cycles and motor cars for the early EJ sequence, we do not have the third volume which would have originally contained the 'heavy goods vehicles' - the lorries, tractors, steam waggons &c. I am afraid I do not know what happened to this volume but it was clearly not with the rest of the collection at transfer to this office in the early 1970s.
I have checked the transfer cards for you - but unfortunately none survives for EJ 545.
I am sorry we cannot help you further with this enquiry.

John. You have more or less the same reply as myself from Ceredigion records office. How-ever at the earliest opportunity I plan to make a trip to Ipswich in order to go through there card index. The unfortunate thing about this being when my dad brought her from Fred Harris there were three tax disc holders attached to the cab side boards, two of which were for trailers, the other being for the engine, all having now been lost.

How-ever what ever the out come I will keep these pages posted.

Thanks for your interest

Kevin