Constable's Work Of Art

Bernard Holloway falls into conversation during a road run and uncovers an Italian masterpiece

I just caught a glimpse of a rare Italian built MF 154S and its driver who proffered a friendly wave at least I hoped it was, as he passed. The whereabouts of most local, classic tractors and owners are known to me but I couldn’t place either and the mystery remained unresolved until I participated in a road run some two weeks later. The event in support of a prostate cancer charity was attended by some 60 participants with the tractors running in various groups to minimise traffic disruption. It raised well over £1,500 so hats off to all who participated, the organisers Debbie and Phil Broad and their team, The National Trust and adjacent land owners for allowing us to cross their land. By coincidence the owner of the 154S slotted just in front of me and introduced himself as John Constable and we fell into conversation at rest stops and after the run.

Watching the family herd of Friesians slaughtered and dragged to a pyre of coal and railway sleepers is certainly not an event that one forgets and the Foot and Mouth outbreak of 1960 is still clear in John’s mind as is the effect it had on his family notwithstanding the 18 month hiatus before his father could rebuild the herd. Although John helped with general farming duties, rolling, combining and hay making around the mixed arable and dairy farm his heart was never in the business as his abilities lay elsewhere. As he says” I was happiest taking machinery apart and fixing it up and working with my hands. One of my first projects, and being keen on motorcycles which in my youth were cheap to buy, was the restoration of a Royal Enfield with my friend Dick McKenna, when we were at school”