Old Pond publishing days

Kings of Construction DVD off the list

Unfortunately Old Pond is unable to obtain reliable supplies of the popular Discovery channel DVD set Kings of Construction although it is included in our latest catalogue. We are unable to fulfil orders and are refunding any that we hold.

New light on the exciting early days of Harry Ferguson

Harry Ferguson before the plough by Michael Clarke in collaboration with Jack Woods. Quality paperback with gatefold, 160 pages including 50 photographs and line drawings. Published by Ballyhay Books and distributed by Old Pond at £12.99. IN STOCK.

Colin Fraser’s standard work, Harry Ferguson: inventor and pioneer, sketches in the great man’s early adventures in less than twenty pages. This new book, dealing mostly with the period 1906-13, completes the story.

The young Ferguson, apprenticed at his brother’s motor repair workshop, developed an over-riding interest in all things mechanical. He built and raced motorbikes and cars, then turned to aviation, designing, building and flying his own aeroplane. He was the first person to fly a plane in Ireland.

Ferguson’s obsession with flight – the same single-minded determination he was later to devote to his tractors and farm machinery – makes for fascinating reading. He had to solve engineering problems and then take all the risks that early aviators faced. There were plenty of thrills and spills.

The authors are both aviation enthusiasts, Jack Woods having had several books about aviation in Northern Ireland published. They have researched the subject deeply, and among the many fine illustrations in the book are 27 from the Ferguson family museum.

Old Pond at the Newark Show

Old Pond Publishing will have a stand in the Newark Pavilion at the show on 6 and 7 November. Several people have phoned to ask us to reserve books or DVDs for collection at the event, and we are happy to do so: 01473 238200.

Sheep Station NZ and We Waved to the Baker - new titles in stock

New in stock at Old Pond are:

Sheep Station NZ by Dylan Winter. Two-DVD set, approx 3 hours, £19.95. Details: blog 23 July.

We Waved to the Baker by Andrew Arbuckle. Hardback, 144 pages, £12.95. Details: blog 15 September.

Know Your Trucks - new book in stock

The pocket-sized paperback Know Your Trucks by Patrick W Dyer is now in stock at Old Pond. Details: blog 19 September. 

A plague on both your houses! (The postal strike)

Old Pond has decided that its first reaction to the postal stoppages is to send all UK orders of £30 or more by DHL 48 hour service. There is no extra charge for our customers. 

New earthmoving and combines DVDs in stock

Today Old Pond has received stock of:

Working Combines Part 1 presented by Stephen Richmond (Tractor Barn Productions). Details blog 28 August.

Britain's Massive Miners Parts 1 and 2, Steven Vale. Details: blogs 9 September.

(It always takes a day or two before new titles are available to order direct from the website. The alternative is to phone +44 (0)1473 238200.) 

Seventy Years of Farm Machinery: Seedtime - new book advance information

Brian Bell's Fifty Years of Farm Machinery has long been a standard book for enthusiasts. Although Brian can only show a random sample of the hundreds of implements and machines used on the land, in his new edition he has considerably expanded the work. To make the project more manageable, he has divided the subject into two parts, the first of which is to be published this December.

Seventy Years of Farm Machinery Part One: Seedtime by Brian Bell. Hardback, approx 176 pages inc. 276 illustrations. ISBN 978-1-906853-18-1. IN STOCK at Old Pond at £19.95.

 CONTENTS
1 The development of the farm tractor from the Fordson Model F to the JCB Fastrac.
2 Trailed and mounted conventional and reversible ploughs, chisel ploughs, push-pull ploughs and square ploughs.
3 Cultivators, disc harrows, chain harrows, power harrows, rotary cultivators, subsoilers, combination cultivators, steerage hoes and weeders. 
4 Grain drills, cultivator drills and direct drills.
5 Root drills and precision seeders.
6 Potato planters and vegetable planters.
7 Field heap manure spreaders, trailer spreaders, side-spreaders and slurry spreaders.
8 Manure loaders, front-end loaders and rear loaders.
9 Full-width fertiliser distributors, spinner broadcasters and pneumatic spreaders.
10 Farm crop sprayers, air-blast sprayers, controlled droplet sprayers, band sprayers and weed wipers.
Index

As Brian Bell writes in his Foreword:
'A late 1940s farming report suggested that the past decade could well have seen the coming of a second agricultural revolution. This prediction proved to be accurate with much of the credit going to Henry Ford, Harry Ferguson, David Brown and other pioneers. Another report recorded the fact that there were thirteen horses for every tractor working on British farms in 1939 - but within ten years horses outnumbered tractors by a ratio of only two to one.
    'This book traces the development of tractors, tillage equipment, drills, fertiliser distributors, manure spreaders and crop sprayers from the days when Fordson Model N tractors were used to pull trailed ploughs, cup-feed drills and field-heap manure spreaders. The progression from those early farm machines to the latest computerised tractor management systems with satellite navigation operated from the comfort of an air-conditioned cab has happened in little more than a single lifetime. Farming folk, many of whom have only recently achieved the status of senior citizen, will remember sitting on a tractor seat with a corn sack over their knees to keep out the cold, walking behind a cup-feed drill or chopping out sugar beet and turnips with a hand hoe.'

Carl White's photograph book launch

Snape Maltings, East Suffolk, was the venue for the launch of Bells Beneath the Sea, published by Old Pond. (See also blog 28 August.)

Artist photographer Carl White signed copies of his new book in the Snape Gallery. Hung on the walls around him was a selection of his prints which are on display and sale there for another week.

Among those attending the launch were, from the left: Andrew Hurst who contributed the book's Foreword; Carl White; television journalist Tom Heap, principal speaker; Peter Raby of Homerton College, Cambridge.

New annual catalogue from Old Pond

Old Pond's new paper catalogue has information on nearly 200 DVDs and books as well as a handful of audio CDs.

Nearly all the titles are aimed at those people interested in the land-based industries: farming and farm machinery, earthmoving, heavy transport. But those who know our list will appreciate that there is a wide variety.

Copies of the catalogue are now being mailed to previous customers and enquirers.

You can also phone +44 (0)1473 238200 for a copy or email [email protected].