With restoration work it is always the unexpected that causing you the most grief. For six months of tapping, oiling, tapping, oiling, hitting, oiling, punishing; all done with hammers increasing in suitable size increments the locking pin on the 4.5 inch gun held firm.  To our great relief the pin eased gently out of position with the use of a large pipe rench and the threat of a cutting torch.  Bob's Garner's calming influence did much to keep the cutting torch at bay and helped bring this little saga to a close.

After nine months of planning we were delighted at the scale of the success of our event at Tyntesfield House.  With the help of the Western IMPS, countless volunteers and the Blitz Buddies we had a fantastic weekend in the sunshine.  The official figures from the National Trust indicate there were well over five thousand visitors to the event.  Considering the car park and overflow was full to capacity on both days by mid-day makes us think the NT figures are a little amiss.  In the evening we sold nearly 500 tickets for the dance.

From the Collections perspective it was great to have some many vehicles out on display.  The guns in Artillery Corner were a big hit as was the freshly restored Anderson Shelter.  The old BSA looked great on the lawn and the search lights proved a hit after dark.  

The movement of so many vehicles at one time is problematic and always highlights more jobs to be done.  It would appear the manifold gasket has gone on the OY and the gear selector on the Fox has sheered.  The latter is very frustrating as we have only recently had the engine and gear box out to replace second gear but we hope it is not too serious.

You can now see all the wonderful pictures from the weekend by clicking here.

After all the excitement of Tyntesfield and George Clooney life at the Collection is returning to normality.  It has taken us nearly three weeks to unload all the kit and put all the trucks away.  Sadly we blew the head gasket on the Bedford OY during all the capers so she will be into the workshops for some attention very soon.

We had been hoping to have the little Austin 8 finished for our outing to Tyntesfield however the engine refit took a turn for the worse when we discovered a water leak.  After much panic, choice words and head scratching we discovered one of the core plugs had rotted out.  Typically we had not noticed this whilst the engine was on the bench but such is life.

Other recent fun and games were to be had with the David Brown tractor that shredded it's fan belt after the alternator's bearings gave up the ghost.  Thankfully we were close to home and the alternator was quickly removed and repaired however fitting the new fan belt being nothing but painful.  It looks like we will have to remove the front loader so we can get at the hydraudic pump that needs to be removed form the front pully, so we can fit a new belt.  Nothing is ever straight forward!

Hopefully we will be able to get back to the vehicles in the near future as the Jeep chassis is finished and the Staghound needs some wheels!

If you have a minute or 1.27 to be precise, please view our promotional video for Tyntesfield WWII Weekend: Dig for Victory. {youtube}_cfP7pYGecQ{/youtube}

We had so much fun making it and it is all for a good cause.  Please forward video link to anyone who might be interested.  

Buy your Tickets Here