Old Pond publishing days

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].

Tractor Restoration: paintwork. New DVD advance information

Alan Davies shows how he sets about preparing and spraying a tractor. Hopefully, if you follow his guidance you will be able to reach concourse standard.

Tractor Restoration: paintwork by Alan Davies. Double-DVD set, approx 2 hours 22 minutes. IN STOCK at Old Pond Publishing at £19.95.

The blogs of 26 February 2008 and 24 March 2009 have shown some of the progress on this programme. The work has taken nearly three years.

 Alan Davies shows how he sets about preparing and spraying a tractor. Hopefully, if you follow his guidance you will be able to reach concourse standard.

Alan starts with assessing the problems posed by an individual job and then, after dis-assembly, goes meticulously through preparation. He shows how he repairs light damage to tinwork; how he fills, sands and stops. He uses simple aids so that bonnets and other items can be handled and worked on easily.

Throughout the demonstrations Alan tells you why he is doing jobs in a particular way, drawing on his long experience as a professional restorer.

In Part 2 Alan moves on to the techniques of spraying, starting with the some principles: the spray booth, choice of paints, types of spray gun and how to mix paint. We watch while he cleans and de-greases the tinwork, sprays primer and then flats it down.

Alan goes on to mask an assembled bonnet before applying the colour coats. He gives fault-finding tips and demonstrates how he polishes out minor blemishes. Even when he applies decals Alan has some useful advice for the amateur restorer.

In the last part of the  programme Alan shows how he brings wheels to perfection and deals with the chassis. 

Contents list

Disk 1
Introduction
Panels
  -modifying new panels (brazing-in the correct shaped hole)
  -beating out damage
  -filling
  -stopping

Disk 2. Spraying the panels.
 Wheels and castings.
Spray guns
Paint
Spray booth
Cleaning and degreasing
Spray gun techniques
Mixing primer
Spraying primer - panels
Assembling panels
Colour coat inside/primer outside
Flatting primer
Masking
Mixing colour coat (3M System)
Spraying colour - panels
Spraying small items
Polishing out minor scratches
Decals

Wheels
  -filling
  -stopping
  -flatting primer
  -spraying colour

Chassis
  -cleaning
  -flatting primer
  -spraying colour
 

Peter Boulton's photograph book launch

David Kindred’s book Hadleigh: the portrait of a Suffolk town – the photographs of Peter Boulton was recently launched at Hadleigh library under the auspices of the Idler bookshop.

We were fortunate that members of Peter Boulton’s family were able to attend. In the photograph, from left to right, are Rona Dyer, Nigel Rea, Marie Boulton, Anne and Clare Rea and author David Kindred.  Marie Boulton is Peter’s widow; Anne and Clare are his daughter and grand-daughter.

Rona Dyer worked for Boulton-Hawker Films for forty-eight years when they were based in Hadleigh. Nigel Rea (married to Anne) continues to run Boulton-Hawker Films  with Peter’s son David. B-HF, now based near Stowmarket, is a major supplier of DVD teaching programmes for schools and similar institutions. Nigel also runs Ibis Multimedia.

The new book contains an Appreciation of Peter Boulton by his son David and daughter Anne. An extensive review of the book based on this Appreciation appeared in the East Anglian Daily Times on Saturday 3 October.

More information about this book is in the blog of 5 June. You can buy a copy online at Old Pond.