Tanked up
THERE’S a saying when it comes to car restoration: ‘You’re only one broken bolt away from an eight-hour job,’ reflects Jonathan Hickman, an armoured-vehicle enthusiast based in Chaddesley Corbett, Worcestershire. As a boy, Mr Hickman enjoyed the utilitarian vehicles his uncle bought from surplus auctions in the 1970s. ‘In those days, you could pick one up for £5,000 or less. As they’ve become rarer, they’ve become more valuable.’
Today, Mr Hickman’s ‘tank shed’ houses his M4 Sherman tank (a reliable, general-purpose tank with a 75mm gun used by the US and Western Allies in the Second World War), ‘the Sherman’s little sister’ M5A1 Stuart tank, an M5 half-track personnel carrier, currently ‘in a million pieces’ as it undergoes restoration, and three armoured cars: a Ford-built M8, an M20—‘similar to the M8, with a slightly different configuration’—and a Staghound T17E1, a ‘tank on wheels’. He also has a Series 1 Land Rover, a model used by the British Army almost as soon as it was launched in 1948. Over in Argentina sits another Sherman tank, which Mr Hickman bought ‘seven or eight years ago’, awaiting shipping to the UK. ‘Tanks are a bit like sweets—you have one and then you want another,’ he admits.
Trundling his heavy-duty arsenal to static shows in Britain is a thing of the past for Mr Hickman, as he grew tired of visitors clambering over them, demonstrating little respect for the financial or historical value of the vehicles. Instead, he prefers rallies on the Continent, where the battle scars of war can be readily seen: shrapnel marks on buildings and tanks erected as memorials. He admits that reenactment or ‘dressing up’ isn’t his core passion —the vehicles are—but taking part allows for an incredible sensory experience as the tanks clank and roll through the European countryside (the Sherman’s top speed is 25mph).
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning