![Stuff and nonsense](https://cdn.magzter.com/1387284093/1717508376/articles/PCYvyfKx_1717573843959/STUFF-AND-NONSENSE.jpg)
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 June 05, 2024 edition of Country Life UK.
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 June 05, 2024 edition of Country Life UK.
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
![All dolled up](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5168/1821361/z0qO9cqPe1725519375804/ALL-DOLLED-UP.jpg)
All dolled up
Automata made in 19th-century France provided inspiration for the work of American artist Thomas Kuntz and a vintage dolls' house, furnished with period-appropriate pieces, stars in a charity auction
![Just keep walking](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5168/1821361/gYyLCnwWN1725519285733/JUST-KEEP-WALKING.jpg)
Just keep walking
ALMOST 30 years ago, a chap called Ian Bleasdale wrote a guide detailing all the walks on the Greek Island of Paxos. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had fallen for the island's rugged charms and, after many visits tramping its networks of old paths, decided to share their knowledge with like-minded souls.
![Delicious drupes](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5168/1821361/sz2hkv0gp1725518713209/DELICIOUS-DRUPES.jpg)
Delicious drupes
THERE is a peculiar magic in growing almonds. However often you see their soul-lifting, frost-risking flush of white blossom and however often you collect a basket of homegrown almonds, it's hard to lose the sense of glorious impossibility, that somehow you've cheated geography and climate.
![It started with a blank canvas](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5168/1821361/KuCtx5ORv1725518420708/IT-STARTED-WITH-A-BLANK-CANVAS.jpg)
It started with a blank canvas
The garden of Patthana, Co Wicklow, Ireland The home of T. J. Maher and Simon Kirby An exquisite small garden is rich in colour and texture and has been imaginatively extended, as you would expect of a painter's domain, reports Jane Powers
![Escape to 'God's own country"](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5168/1821361/wk_FqN-wX1725518299284/ESCAPE-TO-GODS-OWN-COUNTRY.jpg)
Escape to 'God's own country"
Yorkshire folk are rightly proud of their county's magnificent landscapes and rich architectural heritage, but incomers looking to settle there face strong competition from local contenders for picture-perfect country houses
![By the light of the harvest moon](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5168/1821361/9UA3xGmDG1725518139805/BY-THE-LIGHT-OF-THE-HARVEST-MOON.jpg)
By the light of the harvest moon
As autumn's whisper reminds farmers to reap their crops, inspect your produce for a suggestion of the winter to come, says Lia Leendertz
![Building blocks](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5168/1821361/PSy_Iosqh1725518000694/BUILDING-BLOCKS.jpg)
Building blocks
We can expect fireworks: Labour’s draft plans for a new planning policy contain subtle, but devastating amendments that bear closer inspection
![Friends in low places](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5168/1821361/XP8vF-q7m1725517730865/FRIENDS-IN-LOW-PLACES.jpg)
Friends in low places
As special as orchids, as beautiful as bluebells and as important as oaks, our ground-hugging mosses are worth a look down, says Mark Cocker
![Talk of the ton](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5168/1821361/1_rrwq4-U1725516739928/TALK-OF-THE-TON.jpg)
Talk of the ton
During the golden age of gossip, the fashion choices of the Regency elite were frequently the scintillating subject of the scandal sheets, finds Susan Jenkins
![Slopes of hazard](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5168/1821361/SDWG176WA1725516537249/SLOPES-OF-HAZARD.jpg)
Slopes of hazard
Skiing, ironically, is the safest thing you can do in St Moritz, says Rosie Paterson, who traces the Swiss resort's love affair with adrenaline-pumping winter sports back to a Victorian bet