Clearance of a Buckinghamshire haulage/plant hire yard which has been effectively abandoned for more than 40 years has uncovered numerous ‘buried treasures; including a few rare car parts.
The business, which at its peak in the mid-1960s employed more than one hundred people, closed in 1975 when the owner retired, but much of the equipment including low-loader trailers, compressors, dumper trucks and so on remained on site, slowly deteriorating. He died about ten years ago and planning permission has now been granted for a housing development to be built on the site. Work is due to start by the end of June, the site is being cleared, and the owners are keen that ‘appropriate homes’ are found for anything which could be of further use.
CW’s Peter Simpson was invited to take a look. Much, sadly, is little more than scrap – a Morris Minor and a Morris Oxford Series III fell apart as soon as they tried to move it, and more than ten wagonloads of scrap metal have been removed from the site already. However, stuff that’s considered worth saving is being moved away from the first phase of construction.
Most of what’s here is probably mainly of interest to lorry, tractor and plant preservationists, but a few car items have been unearthed including a ‘flathead’ Ford V8 engine, a 3.5-litre Jaguar XK engine from, it’s thought, an XK120/140 and a complete rear axle assembly including the hubs from a pair of wooden-spoked wheels that is thought to have been taken from a late-1920s Buick.
The yard is in North Buckinghamshire; for security reasons, the precise location is being kept secret at present – though we should perhaps mention that it is adjacent to the family home and there are dogs on site.
For further details, please contact either Ian Smith on 07515 883174 or Project Assistant Sam Finnigan on 07540 731891, but please call only if you are genuinely interested in taking something on and have the means to remove it quickly.
