19 April
Vorsprung Durch Technik
Another one for you tractor enthusiasts.
While truck-testing in Germany last week one of our fellow journalists from sister magazine Commercial Motor came across this unusual three-wheeled tractor parked up against a fence on a redundant US Air Force base.
The name that appears on the bonnet is Pekazett.
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Reliant’s foray in the agriculture industry was short lived |
With his usual tenacious investigative techniques The Black Sheep has discovered that back in 1965 a German construction manufacturer, Peschke, had been experimenting with the three-wheeled tractors and they began manufacturing this model – the Pekazett slope tractor UF 260 – in order to enter the field of specialist forestry tractors.
As far as I can tell the Pekazett doesn’t appear to have been a roaring success, but in the same year, Peschke and fellow German firm Bungartz formed a partnership to develop walk-behind cultivators from their new co-owned factory buidings in Hornbach (Saarland, Germany).
Presumably this marked the end of Peschke’s foray into three-wheeled tractors, but if any of The Flock can expand on this dribble of history, email The Sheep …
7 April
Has it really come to this?
TR: Morris dancing? Morris flippin dancing? I’m disappointed in you, Mr Fwi. I’ve spent years telling people what a glamorous go-getting jet-setting lifestyle us journalists lead – and now we’re publicly on record as being interested in morris dancing. Shame on you.
6 April
Bird flu
No great surprise, but it’s here at last …
All the latest here …
5 April
Lacock sportif
Despite being chastised by The Flock for having weekly musings rather than daily ones, your favourite Sheep has in fact been out appraising scarecrows.
Ever heard of Lacock? No? Well, it’s a pretty little village in Wiltshire. Its claim to fame comes in the form of movie location for scenes from both Pride and Prejudice (the 1995 version) and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (think it’s the Diagon Ally scenes).
Incidentally in the King John’s Hunting Lodge tea shop there’s a cute signed photo of the three main actors from Harry 1 (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson).
In a lovely demure and naive moment Radcliffe has printed “HARRY” next to his wobbly 11 year-old signature in case we didn’t know who he was.
Anyway back to the scarecrows. Other than movies and being named after a French man’s bits, Lacock puts on an annual Scarecrow trail. This involves kids from the village school making loads of themed scarecrows and sticking them all over the village – in front gardens, windows, in the stream – everywhere).
Visitors then pay a couple of quid to get a trail sheet, fill in the identity of the ‘crows and get the chance to win a prize.
This year’s theme was villains and heroes, and in this snap you can see “Tarzan” (and “Jane” in the stream if you’ve got good eyes).
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“Me Tarzan. You papier mache.” |
Also during The Sheep’s visit some lady Morris dancers where shaking their stuff in the High Street – they claimed to be on a cream tea tour of the nation. Again – good eyes can spot three generations of The Sheep enjoy their bell-ringing antics.
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Dance baby, dance! |
