In those days, BO, (Before Oscar) I visited and posted on a site called Yesterdays Tractors.
There were few people who had Majors or admitted having them but two regulars who posted were Chris and J-P. Chris lived on the Isle of Wight and owned a Fordson Major Diesel that he used as part of his first love, The Isle of Wight Steam Railway. His tractor broke stone for the track bed and lifted rails into place on the track. He used it to mow the car parks and with the help of a Bamfords Baler and a Lely Cock Pheasant wuffler, made and baled the hay. We had some interesting discussions via the board and I was able to give him assistance on his Vicon fertiliser spreader and we finally got the knotters on the baler to work again. All over the net.
J-P lives in Finland and owns the original Fordson Major ASP. In fact the three of us coined the name for his tractor. J-P, like most of us was a little short of money to spend on it so he made things like lift arms out of scrap parts. Between the three of us we got it running and usable so he could cut his grass and cultivate his land on which he grows pumpkins and squashes.
J-P used to put his questions in a humorous form, setting Chris and I lists of questions that required one word answers and the fingers would fly over the keyboards.
Around 2000 Oscar also started posting on that site and slowly built up this one. He invited me to participate and for a number of years I posted on both sites.
Chris came to visit me here on a number of occasions when he came to stay with his parents who lived just over the border in Suffolk. He had a VW camper van and was very proud of it.
J-P was slowly building up a family and a few horse and his tales of life in Finland and his escapades kept us laughing over the years.
Unfortunately Chris died from a heart problem a few years ago. He went to work on an engine in the Railway Workshop and passed away with his spanners in his hand. The way he would have wanted to go.
J-P and I have kept up a correspondence over the years and his stories of wolves and Elk in his garden plus rat shooting with a Walther PPK though the floor of his outside toilet have caused much hilarity.
One day last week I got an e-mail from him saying a friend had invited him to join him on a trip to England to buy a tractor. He wanted either a John Deere or a Valtra and could I put them in touch with anyone with such tractors for sale. I checked around our local dealers and found what they wanted and arranged hotel rooms for them with our friends who run a very pleasant hotel about a mile and a half away.
So on Sunday evening, Ann and I went to meet J-P for the first time along with his friend Leo. It was a great evening and it was just as if we had all known each other all our lives. It helps that Leo is my brother's double!
Yesterday I spent the day with them driving around to dealerships and viewing tractors and machinery. It was a very successful day as Leo found his tractors and we even found a replacement for the ASP for J-P, but in the end he thought that it would be upset to be traded in for a Valmet with a loader, although he did say that his wife Pia would have been very pleased as it would make mucking out horses so much easier.
So now Ann and I are looking for ways to make a return visit to Finland! We will not need hotel accommodation as we have been invited to stay with Leo and his family on his cattle farm. We are just trying to work out whether to drive up from the Hook through Holland and Denmark or sail from Hull direct.
Watch out Grani!! We may call and inspect your Roadless first hand!!
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