VINTAGE machinery enthusiasts from all over the country and at least one from the continent flocked to a farm sale near Malvern to try and pick up spare parts and machinery from a treasure trove of second-hand equipment.

The sale at Newland Court Farm attracted more than 1,000 potential bidders as just under 800 lots ranging from boxes of nuts and bolts through to tractors, trailers and a 1956 Dennis Fire Engine once used at Broadway Fire Station went under the hammer.

And some of the lots are now destined for international duty as they head off to developing countries – one tractor is being sent to Cambodia, another to Africa and a bailer will be heading off to Thailand.

The equipment was all part of a private collection belonging to farmer Lloyd Jenkins, who died aged 90 just before last Christmas, and was crammed into about 10 barns and sheds at the property.

While dealing with his estate, his nephews and nieces discovered his passion for collecting and dealing in machinery and unearthed numerous historic documents relating to his family and the farm.

His nephew Colin Anstey, of Broomhall, near Worcester, said the 150 acre Newland Court Farm is thought to have originally been part of the Madresfield estate – 3,000 acres of the estate were sold off in 1919 – and was bought by Benjamin and Eva Jenkins from the previous owners in 1927. It was a traditional mixed farm with milking cows, pigs and sheep.

Lloyd was the youngest of five children and, when his father died in 1952, he continued the family farming tradition. He lived at the property for 88 years and became well known in the local farming community.

“Lloyd had a real love for his farm and machinery. He loved machinery and farm sales. There were in excess of a thousand people at the sale, which was a lot more than we were expecting.

“One chap come from Holland and others came from Cornwall, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire – all over the place. It was amazing.”

Mr Anstey added: “This was just the sort of sale Lloyd would have loved. It was him all over. I hope he was looking down on us and thinks we did him proud.

“We hope we did a good job for him. It was his sale. I am sure he would have enjoyed it.”

He went on: “A man from Holland came because there were a lot of Massey Fergusson parts in the sale and he was interested in that.

“There was one man, who had been coming to Lloyd for 10 years to try and get a particular spare part for his tractor. Every time he called, Lloyd said it was here somewhere but he couldn’t find it.

“The man couldn’t see the part he wanted in the sale but he came along anyway for some other things and then right at the end of the sale he found just what he wanted. It was so nice that he got it.”

Mr Anstey added: “There is a real fraternity of collectors who have old tractors. I heard one person saying he had 30 and another had 22. It is their real love to restore them. It is rare for them to be able to find the parts.

“These sort of farm sales are unusual now. If Lloyd had something that could be used it was not thrown away. It was great that people were able to get what they wanted. There were tractors in bits and they sold for an amazing amount because someone wanted to restore it. I am in awe of it. It is great that there is a world like this out there.”

He said one of the 25 tractors in the sale was destined to go to Cambodia, another to Africa and a bailer would be shipped out to Thailand.

“It is amazing this stuff goes around the world. There are countries that do not have that much and it is worth it for them even with the cost of shipping. They don’t mind if it is old machinery. It is great that these things are helping other countries in the world.”

Another lot, which attracted considerable interest, was an old fire engine once used at Broadway Fire Station. Apart from several keen bidders, a number of excited youngsters accompanying their parents to the sale wanted to sit in the cab and get a feel for life in the fire service years ago.

The engine eventually fetched £5,600 and is due to be fully restored before finding a new home as a family attraction at a canal marina at Wootten Wawen, Henley in Arden.

It was bought by one of Mr Anstey’s business associates. “One of my business associates had come over to see me about a different matter a few months ago and I mentioned to him that we had a fire engine in our sale at the farm.

“One of his businesses was building a canal marina at Wootten Wawen, Henley in Arden. I jokingly said the fire engine would be a great feature for his venture.

“He came to the sale and bought his son. He saw that a lot of the youngsters who came along with people to the sale wanted to sit on the fire engine and said how good it was seeing the youngsters enjoying the old engine and its heritage.”

The new owner is so enthusiastic about his acquisition he has even discovered some footage of the engine in a simulated incident filmed in the 1970s. It can be seen by visiting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YAU9mmM_bE

And now Vale resident John Waters, who saw our original story about the fire engine in the Evesham Journal on March 16, contacted us to say that particular Dennis fire engine, powered by a Rolls Royce engine, was designed by his late father Deryck Waters while he was technical director of Alfred Miles Ltd, of Cheltenham.

Mr Waters, of Badsey, near Evesham, said: “It was one of his lightweight construction designs based on his experiences in the aircraft industry - he was one of the design team for the Gloster Meteor in WWII.

“Alfred Miles built fire engines in Cheltenham on a variety of chassis according to the wishes of the fire brigades. In the 1950s the Dennis fire pump was much loved by the firemen and Dennis would have used a Rolls Royce engine to provide more power than the contemporary Bedford or Commer engines.

“After Miles stopped making fire engines, the design was licensed to Dennis which continued to build it into the 1960s. There is also a Dinky Toy version of it.”

Of the 800 or so lots at the Newland Court Farm sale, just a handful remained unsold, and at least one item was sold that wasn’t even in the sale.

Mr Anstey said: “I put my tow chains in the barn where some other things were for sale and I meant to pick them up in the morning before it all started but I forgot because there was a lot to do.

“When I went back to the barn later they had gone. I said: ‘Where are my tow chains?’ and they had been sold by mistake. I am going to have to go to another auction to buy some tow chains.”