I meet all sorts of tractor enthusiasts in this job, some with large, varied collections and others with just a single, cherished machine. But I think Peter Milner is unique in that his tractor collection includes three, 70-year-old Fordson Majors, all of which he still uses regularly as part of his working life.
Peter who, 25 years ago, managed to buy back the farmhouse he grew up in, plus a 25-acre package of land around it, now runs an interesting operation with his wife, Helen, that includes a fencing business, livery stables and three holiday cottages. While he spends much of every week out and about quoting for and erecting all sorts of fencing, his weekends are fully occupied at home, which is where his beloved Majors earn their keep.
Fordson family
But, like so many others in the movement today, Peter has his family to thank for his tractor passion. “I grew up on a farm and we always had Fordsons working there,” he told me. “My father told me lots of stories about the Standard Ns and E27Ns they used to use and then, by the time I was old enough to start taking a boyhood interest, it was E1A Majors that were doing all the work around the place.
“By that stage, though, they were all pretty long in the tooth. The work they did was certainly hard, and they were kept going by the sort of ‘make do and mend’
