Rufforth Auto Jumble.

Hi,

Weather permitting I attend Rufforth Auto Jumble near York the first Saturday of each month as I've done this morning. Rufforth to me is like a candy store to a child; I always return home with lots of goodies and today was no exception.

I arrived on site at 7am it being just an hours drive away from us and paid the £2 entry fee. As I wandered around with eyes wide open whilst keeping an eye on my wish list I noticed a cranked hoe laying on the ground with the seller strewn across the rear of his open van looking disinterested in the world so I picked up the hoe and taking it to him asked the usual how much please; he replied the hoe was over 100 years old as indicated by the knob on the handle end and it was £30 so he still has the hoe. On another stall I spotted a second old cranked hoe; how much? at £2 it's now mine. On the same stand were two old Suffolk petrol mowers and I was interested in these but resisted the temptation and strolled away; a while later I was looking at these two mowers once again but thought do I really need three petrol mowers already owning two so again I wandered away; on the third visit to the stall I asked how much; the guy replied that the one I was interested in just needed some TLC and it was rare in that it still had its grassbox he wanting £20 for it.

As I trundled the mower to the car some distance away it kicked up a lot of noise with its metal roller on the tarmac and the blades spinning causing just about everyone to have a good look; amazingly as I pushed the mower along the many people kindly stepped to one side allowing me to mow a clear path to the car; I was certainly the center of attention. At the car I dropped the rear seats and emptied the boot of the goodies already bought and was about to take a deep breath in order to lift the mower when two passing guys kindly asked if I needed a lift with the mower into the car boot which I thankfully accepted; our car is a Skoda Yeti so plenty of space but by the time I had replaced the other items the boot filled quickly. I then wandered around a while longer buying more items before heading back home.

At a stall I saw a very very old incomplete belt driven motorcycle; it's tyres had rotted away; it had an underslung angular petrol tank and of a make I wasn't familiar with but what a temptation; the price tag read £1,850 and what a shame I simply don't have space for it otherwise I'd have bought it but the Colt mower compensated for it.

After dinner with my old clothes on and wearing rigger gloves I struggled to remove the mower from the car but was pleased when the mower was finally in my workshop allowing a few pictures to be taken.

The mower is a petrol Suffolk Colt and is complete; I'm going to enjoy restoring it and at £20 I've done a good deal. Just a little story of what I get up to because I'm forever restoring something or other?

Kind regards, Colin.


A new toy to play with.


The grass in the grass box was thrown in free of charge; A nice project ahead; it's surprising how much it weighs. I should have had three "Weetabix"?


Not in bad condition and well worth the £20 just to tinker with it.



More goodies I bought this morning; we use lots of black bin bags and a stall was selling rolls of 20 at £1 per roll or 6 rolls for £5 so I handed over £20 for 24 rolls. A 12V inspection lamp at £3 that I'll convert to 240V it being fully insulated and I'll upgrade the switch; a "Bergen" set of box spanners at £8; the cranked hoe at £2; small shovel at £3 and screws and washers; not a bad morning at all.