Jack’s Story
‘TEF project tractor, just needs putting together, all parts boxed. £??? Complete with log. book. Delivery available at extra cost.’
When tractor enthusiast and long-time Ferguson Club member, John Selley, read that ad, he was straight on the phone, and, after discussing various bribes such as steak and kidney puddings at the local pub, the deal was struck. Mid November 2006 the tractor was delivered and was instantly named ‘Jack’ as so much was in a box! The Grandchildren were at the age when all Grandpa’s tractors had to have names!
The first thing was to remove the engine and dismantle it so parts could be sent off for refurbishment. In January 2007 the engine was rebuilt and the hull painted by Steve.
For personal reasons I decided to paint Jack’s bonnet and wings pink, the colours of CLIC-Sargent and he could do some fundraising. His first outing was the 2007 Ferguson Club AGM in Newmarket.
For the technically minded, Jack is a Ferguson TEF 20 registered GJL 763 on the 15th October 1954 and lived at a farm in Gosberton, Lincs.
Since his first outing he has been seen at numerous local shows and usually is the centre of interest, good job really as what he has emblazoned down his bonnet, in gold, is ‘Jack, the CLIC-Sargent Awareness tractor’.
In 2009, in order to raise much needed funds for CLIC- Sargent, Jack went to Aberdeen via the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, to The Orkneys, the Western Isles, and to North Yorkshire. Wherever possible Jack travelled under his own power. We are not sure how much he actually raised, but at Leverhume, on the Isle of Harris they gave him over a £1000! He was sent off on this journey by the Mayor of Bury St Edmunds.
Jack as delivered
There is another part to Jack’s story which involves Steve. Steve came to the local garage, where I was doing much of the work, for a job to be done on his car. David, the proprietor knew Steve and also knew he couldn’t pay for the work to be done but was more than capable of doing the job himself. So David gave Steve the parts and I helped. We learnt, that for various reasons, Steve was very depressed and living in his car in the local forest. We worked with him to get him into the homeless shelter and eventually to a flat of his own. That lead to an 8-year close friendship until Steve died unexpectedly in March 2014. At his funeral the family said that those years had been Steve’s happiest. I certainly miss him to this day.
In 2018 I decided to have a change and now Jack, and his identical twin Jill are The Addington Fund tractors in their new livery of orange and brown. The Addington Fund was set up by the late Canon Richard Addington, from Suffolk, who had the original idea of supporting pig farmers in East Anglia whose herds were affected by the outbreak of Classic Swine Fever in 1998. Since 2001, Addington has assisted over 24,500 farming families with grants totalling over £11.2m, and has invested over £8m in housing for rural and farm workers.
Please look out for these tractors at a show near you and please be as generous as possible.
Jack at John O'Groats. 2009
Jack, the Addington Tractor at Woolpit 2018
See
https://www.addingtonfund.org.uk for more information on The Addington Fund
Please mention THE VINTAGE SCENE when responding to advertisements NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 13
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