Old Pond publishing days

Ford 7000 DVD now available

'The Story of the Ford 7000', a DVD compiled by the Tractor Barn duo Stephen Richmond and Jonathan Whitlam, uses archive footage and new film to show the impact that the machine had at the time of its launch and which continued with conversions and follow-ups. The DVD is now in stock at Old Pond at £16.95.

High, Wide and Handsome exceptional loads DVD in stock

CP Production's new DVD featuring four abnormal loads by Friderici, Brame P, Diamond Heavy Haul and Plant Speed is now in stock. The programme, 'High Wide and Handsome',by Pete Connock and Martin Phippard is now available from Old Pond at £16.95.

Horses of Appleby Fair book signings by Heidi M Sands

On Friday and Saturday 3 and 4 June Heidi M Sands will be signing copies of her new book The Horses of Appleby Fair at the following venues:

The Old Bookshop, Kirkby Stephen Friday 3 June 11am – 1 pm

Kendal Library Friday 3 June 2:30 pm – 5:00 pm

The Bluebell Bookshop, Penrith Saturday 4 June 10:30 am - 12:30 pm

Westwood Bookshop, Sedbergh Saturday 4 June 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm.

Scrap yard barber shop delights

A customer from Newcastle-under-Lyme writes:

"Our son loves the Massive Machines DVDs and was most anxious to receive Scrap Metal Giants. As a schoolboy he would only go to one particular barber's shop as it was opposite the scrap metal yard and he could spend the waiting time watching their amazing machines. He also admires Steven Vale's stuff & we love Old Pond!"

Ice Road Truckers Season Four DVD in stock

The complete Season Four of the History Channel's Ice Road Truckers is now in stock at Old Pond. Sixteen episodes plus bonus features - 12 heart-ponding hours for £19.95.

Walking with Giants: Steven Vale's earthmovers book advance information

Walking with Giants: Europe's massive earthmovers, Steven Vale. Hardback book, 280 x 220 mm, 320 pages inc. 400 colour photographs. ISBN: 978-1-906853-83-9 In stock at Old Pond at £29.95.

Phosphates and gold in Finland, copper in Sweden, limestone in Holland, coal in Wales and Spain … throughout Europe the raw materials for industry, construction and power are being excavated every day.

Steven Vale looks at fourteen European countries to show the diversity of surface mining machinery and techniques. He describes the regions in which the mining is set, provides information about the industries they serve and portrays some of the characters involved.

Steven’s fine photographs and detailed text then show the excavators, dozers, wheeled loaders and dump trucks, many of which are the largest in their classes. Some of these are veterans, others are the most modern available.

He reveals why the mine managers selected particular brands, how they feel about their selection and whether they are likely to continue with the same choices in future. He also describes how the mines are facing up to the environmental challenges which increasingly affect them.

Massive machines, with famous names – Liebherr, Caterpillar, Komatsu, Hitachi, O&K, Terex, LeTourneau, Demag, Bucyrus – will give enthusiasts plenty to savour in this first book to look comprehensively at European surface mining activity.

Steven Vale, an Englishman based in Holland, is European correspondent for Earthmovers magazine. He is a life-long machinery enthusiast with an unequalled knowledge of the European scene. He has organised and scripted an impressive range of earthmoving DVDs for Old Pond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Cleveland's monumental books about the East Anglian Film Archive

The East Anglian Film Archive was founded in 1976 by David Cleveland who continued to direct it until 2004. By this time it had grown to a collection of over 100,000 items, including deposits from local BBC and Anglia Television. The archive, owned and operated by the University of East Anglia, is housed along with the Norfolk Records Office in a purpose-designated building in Norwich.

David set out clearly the philosophy of a film archive - that preservation and presentation should go hand in hand. During its heyday the archive was giving up to 250 showings of films a year to all sorts of local groups. I have seen the films at steam fairs, village halls and the Ipswich Corn Exchange, and they were shown in schools, workplaces and many other venues.

The earliest films in the collection date back to 1896. They include scenes, events, trades, buildings and ways of life that would otherwise be lost to view, whether it is an eel-catcher on the Norfolk Broads or a 1960s coffee bar. When David and his colleagues presented the films they communicated their own enthusiasm for them, holding a packed village hall captivated as the projector whirred away.

Later developments at the archive included an MA course in film and television archiving established in 1990. This attracted students from all over the world but is now apparently in jeopardy due to education cuts. There is a programme of digitisation and the release of some of the material on DVD. Old Pond’s Farmers' Films and three 'Bygones' programmes show EAFA footage.

Since his retirement in 2004 David Cleveland has been writing two monumental books, the second of which has just been published. They are packed full of information about the archive’s films, the film-makers and the background to the film-making. These large-format books are highly illustrated with frames from the films. The books can be read through or dipped into; whichever way you approach them, if you have a feeling for social history and film or an affinity with East Anglia you will find it rewarding.

The books are: Films Were Made: a look at films and film makers in the East of England 1896-1996. Volume 1 The Region at Work. Volume 2  Local History. Both are hardbacks 287 x 210 mm by David Cleveland. Each book is £27.

Volume 1 (ISBN 978-0-9558271-2-9, 286 pages), gives a short technical background, then considers the earliest film-makers in the region before dealing with broad themes: Industry, Farming, The Coast, Wartime, Transport, Television Arrives.

Volume 2 (ISBN 978-0-9558271-3-6, 352 pages) takes a regional approach, dealing in turn with films applicable to Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. There are further insights into film-making, including cine clubs, and the cinema in the region.

Both books have full indexes, lists of film-makers and films and a select bibliography. The books can be obtained direct from David Cleveland at PO Box 7608 Manningtree, Essex. He asks for £30 per book including postage. Retail outlets include Jarrolds at Norwich, Heffers at Cambridge and Townsends at Manningtree.

An Ipswich WAAF's story

It was 1941. An Ipswich bus driver’s daughter, seventeen years old, fond of film and dancing was bored with her work as a machinist making khaki uniforms. She lied about her age and was accepted by the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. This was the start of memorable years for Jean Bailey.

After training at Innsworth, near Gloucester, Jean was posted to RAF St Athan, Glamorgan. There she repaired parachutes and started on the series of escapades that she recalls with glee in her recently published book.

Jean moved on to the Electrical and Wireless Technology workshop, a unit humming with activity. She learned to modify obsolete equipment and repair broken parts of aircraft such as generators, magnetos and switches. In her free time she studied the electrician’s trade, becoming one of the first six WAAFs ever to pass the trade test board for electricians. Jean Bailey was now Leading Aircraftswoman Electrician II. She was also fire-watching, continuing to get into scrapes and falling in love with a St Athan airman, Pat.

At nineteen Jean was engaged but posted away from Wales to London. At the Battery Clinic in Kidbrooke, SE London, she processed unserviceable batteries for ‘ground use only’. Besides separation from Pat, Jean had to endure air raids, incendiaries and then doodlebugs. She and her colleagues were sleeping as best they could in an air-raid shelter, and there were a couple of very near misses.

Jean and Pat were unfortunate with the date they chose for their wedding – just before D-Day when all leave was cancelled. Typically, Jean did not let that get in her way, opting to go AWOL. She was now Jean Patterson, posted back to St Athan where she was demobbed, expecting her first child, just before the end of the war with Japan.

Jean Patterson’s book, Wartime WAAF 1939-45, is a paperback, privately published at £8.95. Copies are available from Polstead Press or from local outlets such as the Ipswich tourist office: 01473 258070. Jean Patterson lives in Ipswich.

Inside Massey Ferguson new book advance information

Inside Massey Ferguson - a story of service, David Walker (Farm Power Publishing). Paperback, 234x156 mm, 284 pages inc. 16 pages of photographs. ISBN 978-0-9567019-1-6.

The new book is available here at £13.95.

In his autobiography, ‘Inside Massey Ferguson – A Story of Service’, former Massey Ferguson employee David Walker provides an unparalleled insight into what it was like to work in the service department of the world’s largest tractor manufacturer during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Joining Massey Ferguson at Coventry as a technical author in 1966, David went on to become heavily involved in all aspects of supporting the company’s products, carrying out everything from writing the service manual for the MF 1200 tractor to providing technical advice to its dealers, issuing service bulletins and troubleshooting on territory as a regional service manager. His assessment of the people and products that he encountered during his 21-year career with Massey Ferguson – some good, some occasionally not so good – forms the basis of his absorbing autobiography.

The stories David (right) tells of liaising with Massey Ferguson’s dealer staff and their customers make fascinating and often humorous reading, while his recollections of helping to resolve product problems, notably with the MF 1200, MF 1080 and MF 500 Series tractors of the 1970s, highlight the sort of challenges that members of the company’s service department faced daily.

As well as enthusiasts of Massey Ferguson who seek to broaden their knowledge of the company, ‘Inside Massey Ferguson – A Story of Service’ will also appeal to anyone who worked for the organisation or its dealers during the period covered by the book.

This is the second title produced by Farm Power Publishing. Their first, 'The Best Job Ever', the story of John Hull's career with County, is available from Old Pond.

The Story of the Ford 7000 DVD from Tractor Barn advance information

The Story of the Ford 7000, Stephen Richmond and Jonathan Whitlam (Tractor Barn Productions). DVD, approx 100 minutes. ISBN 978-1-906853-89-1. Now available from Old Pond at £16.95 inc. VAT.

Launched in 1971, the Ford 7000 was the first mass-produced turbocharged tractor to be built in the UK. It answered the demand for more horsepower, a need that many farmers were expressing at the time.

This programme is all about the 7000 – how it came to be, what made it tick and what people thought of it. The story is told with original archive footage from the tractor’s launch and with new film of examples still at work or in preservation.

The 7000 was also converted into a 4-wheel drive machine by the likes of County and Roadless, and so the 94T and 944 are part of the account.

The programme finishes by showing the legacy of the 7000 when it was replaced by newer models such as the 7600, 7700, 7610, 7710, 6810 and 7740. The concept of a turbocharged 94-97hp tractor had taken off to produce some of the most popular Ford machines of all time.

Further DVDs by tractor-filming specialists Stephen and Jonathan are to be found in the Old Pond Tractor Barn catalogue.