A bright and sunny morning to whip up to the old Wellington airbase in rural Oxfordshire. Like most sales. If you ain't there early, you might as well stop in bed and today was no exception. I was on the road before seven & despite making quite Reasonable Progress on the empty roads from the M5's J11A through Stow on the Wold & Chipping Norton, when I arrived just after eight, the whole thing was in busy life. It was a fine, dry day in a succession of fine, dry days, so the world & his brother had turned out to sell, buy and be seen. Indeed, by 9.30, they had to stop sellers coming in as there was nowhere left to park up. I zig-zagged my way from trailer to table and although I came across a few interesting things, nothing gave me that hackle-rising moment where the one thing you've long wanted is found lying upon the floor in the dirt. I was rather taken by an up together 1920's JAP sv engine, mounted on a trolley with an old car dynamo, running & fan cooled & the asking price was only £140. A couple of years ago it would have followed me home, but my interests are narrowing now! It had a watercooled buddy in a similar going state.
There were a couple of big two stroke-powered milking machines of Swedish manufacture but he wanted (gulp!) £450 or thereabouts for each. I suspect he took them home again. Prices were high in general and a mica insulated spark plug was quoted to me at a tenner which I thought was just silly - and said so.
In the end I only bought a pushme-pullyou log saw and a cast iron bodied ammeter for £3. I spent more on me bacon & sausage bap and a cup of tea. Glad I went though, if only to have been at Enstone in my shirtsleeves for once. It is usually such a stark & soggy place.
Regards,
Kim Siddorn