Meddo2009 The Epic

The trip across to Harwich went well. Two ploughs are a lot lighter than Dotty and her plough so we bowl along on the country roads with ease. The only problem we have is that, although lighter the ploughs tend to move even when strapped down so we check every twenty miles or so just to make sure they are still OK.

We arrive at Harwich and pass customs with no problems and finally board the SS Hollandica. There are a large number of cars and trucks on this trip, far more than we have seen on our other crossings. It is a Friday night and everyone seems to be heading home to Holland and Germany with a few Finns and Polish cars to make up the mix of languages and accents. We head for our cabin and our bed. We don’t sail before 11.45 pm and it is long past our bedtime. I always find that I need a good sleep before driving the first day in Holland and even then it is very tiring. Driving on the wrong side of the road, in the heavy traffic around the Hook van Holland and Rotterdam whilst pulling a trailer takes a lot of concentration and I feel drained on that first day. After that it becomes second nature.

We cross the Maas on the Maasluice Ferry and are soon travelling towards Henk’s home at Arnemuiden. We had told him we would arrive at late morning but we have a very fast run down and get there at 10.30 am. Never to soon though for a cuddle with Janneke!

After coffee we collect Henk’s tractor and head for a local farm where we unload his plough with a forklift, hitch it to the back of his tractor and travel to another farm to have a play. Unfortunately the farmer is not around to point out to us the right field so we head back to Henk’s home for lunch.

Lunch is just right, Janneke has produced a fine spread with local fish from a neighbour who has prepared them in a special way. Absolutely delicious!

Lunch and talking takes up too much time and does not leave enough time for a bit of ploughing, Henk has another important engagement later that afternoon so we collect his tractor and park the trailer for the week and head of to find our hotel in Middleburgh.

We are so lucky when with hotels. This one is right opposite the station and easy to find, with a parking space right outside the entrance door. We quickly settle in and after a shower and nap, we are ready to find a meal.

We walk to the market place in the early evening sunshine. A beautiful early autumn evening in a beautiful town. The restaurants and bars around the market place are full of people drinking and having conversation. We wander down a street and discover an old bar, which is serving Onion soup, one of our favourite dishes, so we go in and ask for a table. The place is jam-packed but the manageress finds us a little table and we settle in. This seems to be the centre of evening life in Middleburg with people having meals and parties in every room. We were very lucky to get in as many latecomers were turned away.

We order our meal but do not start with onion soup, our taste changed when we saw the delights on the menu! Mushrooms and bacon in a mustard sauce for starter the entrecote steak as a main course, all served with vegetables and frittes. Also we tried the local beer. Neither Ann nor I are great beer drinkers but this one I could soon grow very fond of. Its taste was at first bitter but then an aftertaste of fruits and honey. A truly great taste to us.

After a great meal we leave De Mug and make our happy way back to the hotel and a great nights sleep.

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Sunday dawns a bit grey and warm. After breakfast we stroll the streets of Middleburg and watch the boats on the canal.

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The cafes around the market place.

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Some of the old warehouses. Middleburg was a large port with contacts and trade from all over the world. The canals are lined with warehouses and merchants houses, a lot still with the crane booms protruding from the front.

Away from the main streets, there are numerous little alleyways and paths between the houses.

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We have arranged to meet Henk and Janneke at 1.30pm so after a quick snack we set off. It is only a couple of miles and this time it is a strange experience for me. I am sitting on the wrong side of the car! Ann has decided she would like to try driving on the “wrong” side and we set off. She does very well and we arrive safely.

Henk takes us to visit the Treckker Museum with which he is involved. It is spoilt for me immediately we arrive! (Only joking Henk). Look at what a sorry sight greeting us!

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A beautiful and complete New Performance Super Dexta, painted Ferguson grey and consigned to be a children’s plaything! What a shock! This must be rectified at once! (At least it does not have ORANGE GRILLS).

Seriously though the museum is a “must visit” place for anyone visiting the area. Its displays include models and stationary engines with many tractors that local farmers have restored and lend to the museum for display. The theme for the days of our visit was Bollinder-Munktell tractors and machinery that included a B-M Volvo combine harvester.

The museum is a credit to all the farmers and others who have participated in it, including Henk and our other friend Dies amongst others.

We leave the museum and set off for Dies’s farm nearby. Dies and Mrs Dies are in the yard to greet us. Ann and Mrs Dies disappear into the house and Dies, Henk and I explore the sheds and the tractors and implements they contain. Every time we come Dies is restoring something different. This time he is working on two Allis crawlers and a Cletrac. He does a great job from the ground up, making all the tin work required, welding and shaping it from what is left of the original. But if there is still a chance of saving large parts, these are cleaned, rust proofed and painted. Not all the imperfections are removed. As I believe, these imperfections are part of the history of a working tractor.

Dies has still many tractors and ploughs to work on as he is expanding his collection all the time. Although Henk now owns an implement that he coverts. A Ransomes EPJ with digger bodies.

We adjourn to the house for coffee, local biscuits and more tractor talk. As I have said before, I have no Dutch language skills and Dies has limited English but we have a great time talking tractors and machinery. Wonder why Henk is looking tired and has a sore throat by the time we come to leave?

Then its back to the hotel to freshen up before Henk and Janneke take us to a lakeside restaurant for a meal. Beautiful setting, great company! What more could anyone want!

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Not a good picture but it gives an idea of the setting.

Monday and we leave Middleburg behind and head over to Winterwijk. A slightly difficult trip as my Ann-Ann navigation system takes us across country and we manage to find every road works site in Holland! But eventually we arrive at the hotel and book in.

Later we walk around the town and find a great restaurant (again) for another wonderful meal. These places are nearly as important to us as the tractors. I really must write a gastronomic review of all these places.

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Winterswijk at night. Especially for Janneke and Greta. The shop where Ann got her boots is (strangely) next to the cash machine!

I am not going to bore you with the details of our holiday. Only to say we are having a great time and trying lots of different food places, the Chinese Restaurant opposite the hotel is very good, and so are the local cheeses.

In the smallest town in Holland, Bronkhorst, we found a museum dedicated to Charles Dickens with dioramas depicting scenes from his novels.

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The Pickwick Papers

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Oliver Twist

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Great Expectations.

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Don’t think he wrote one about Apple Cake!

Wednesday is Winterswijk market day.

The fruit and vegetable stalls.

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The cheese stalls.

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And the fish stall where you can get your purchase cooked in front of you and eat it at one of the stand-up tables provided. Proper market food and atmosphere, with discussion and meeting with friends all around.

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On our tour round the area surrounding Winterswijk, we visited an historic German town just over the border.

Question!

What famous person in English history does this picture represent? (Do not include the rubbish bin).

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(Answer at the end of the story for those who have not already guessed)

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A vineyard within a few miles of Winterswijk, complete with a County 1174 in slightly worn condition. But with both red and white grapes.

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Special vineyard sprayers.

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Air assisted booms that spray on either side.

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A “Provincial Road” especially for Oscar. (He so loves motorways).

Friday dawns bright and clear so, after breakfast we set off to visit the Dolphinarium at Harderwijk. It is a bit further than we usually travel in a day but it is something I have wanted to see for many years yet never seem to get the time.

The seals.

NO!! This is NOT us sun bathing.

And neither is this!!

It is quite a spectacular place especially when the Dolphins show their tricks!

And Walrus get in on the act too! Swimming on his back!

A very enjoyable day!

Finally the great day comes. Saturday morning is misty but my weather God has promised me a good day. Ann and I visit the market in the square and buy cheese and dried meats for our journey home on Monday. We did not take any of these back though.

 This week has flown by and time seems to speed up because it is soon time to get back to the hotel to meet Oscar. He is travelling down from Amsterdam just for a few hours meeting! Makes me feel a bit special.

We meet for tea and coffee and to catch up all the news from families and the site. I have been off line because of the cost and we discuss this. Oscar brings me up to date on new members and tells me of the daily number of “hits” on the site. We are astounded! As you type, you never realise how many people are reading your messages. (Must remember to type more in my posh voice). I usually visualise the people I am talking to and talk to them, or the few who are in the discussion. I wish more of us could meet up at places like Meddo but perhaps it is not to be.

Oscar soon has to leave, but the short meeting and discussion has left me much to ponder on. It certainly brings you up short when you realise you are talking to the world. A bit scary! No! A lot scary!!

It is starting to get very hot when we finally arrive on the show ground. As we pay our entrance money, the young lady says incredulously, “You are from England? You come all that way to visit our show”? We tell her we have been coming for four years to see the show and meet our friends. She can hardly believe it. Another legend about “The Nutty Engalanders” is born. We did not even tell her about repatriating a Dexta and bringing over two ploughs this time!

It is going to be a very tempting Meddo this year as there are lots of Guldners for sale and many would fit in the spare space on the trailer for the home trip!

The wood burning Fordson N. Very handy with the price of fuel rising as it is.

If I want to be critical about tractors in Holland, it would be about the number of “bitsa” Fordsons there are on show or offered for sale. It is something that is not so apparent at other shows I visit. Fordsons seem to be the one make that gets chopped and changed though perhaps I do not know enough about the other makes to pick it up. I would hate to think “My” Guldner was made up of many tractors and parts or the superb display of Lanz Bulldogs all being assembled from odd bits. Alright, I am not living in cloud cuckoo land” and I realise that models straight from the factory are hard to find, but people like Emiel, Pascal and Henk are working hard on their tractors to keep replacement parts either original or as near as possible. The tractor in the picture is being offered as a “Super Dexta” when plainly it is not. The bonnet and the pump tell us this without even looking at the numbers.

Our friend with the petrol Dexta was there on Sunday. He is so proud of his tractor. He has a rare tractor and has it documented and shown of in all its glory. He claims it is 1963 but in truth it is a 1963 engine on a 1958 Diesel clutch housing and back end. It is not original. I did not tell him, I could not break his heart.

I don’t know really what to say. Is my original Petrol Dexta worth more than his? Where does that leave others who have original units? In this world of ours, tractors like ours are an investment. Perhaps we should be very careful in what we buy and how we change them.

The result of being left with spare engines! The original Dutch tractor Gee Dee. Henk told me the story of the company who was left with some engines from Deutz and who built a tractor to use them up. Very rare but there were a number on show here.

We meet with Pascal, Henk, Emiel and Emiel’s father and wander around the show stands. It is very hot and we drift among the tractors deep in conversation. Then it is time for the “frittes” as Ann is getting hungry! Pascal has to leave so we transfer the cowl he has brought me from Frans and Emiel picks up a Major drawbar he had left on his trailer in the park. Then its back to wandering and greeting people.

The day passes quickly and soon, happy and tired we make our way back to the hotel. After a clean up and a short break, it is down to dinner with Henk. There is a party in the hotel and as we pass our leisurely meal and talk in the bar we are serenaded by the music of Edith Piaf performed by an excellent pair of musicians, singing and playing the accordion. We have a little problem with Henk when they change to a song from Zeeland as he gets up and starts dancing! Bed calls around 2 am!

Breakfast is a little late! Perhaps we should have stayed up and just gone straight through from dinner!

Eventually we get back to the show ground at 11 am. What a change! Saturday is the day for the serious tractor man but on Sunday there are more tractors, cars, trucks and people. The car park is jam packed with cars and bicycles and a constant stream of people are entering the main gate. There are more visitors than at any time I have seen but it is a glorious day. The young lady at the gate greets us as we pay our entrance fee. We have become celebrities here it seems.

Two lovely tractors at the gate. (Look!!!!! No ORANGE Grills)

A venerable old lady.

For those who like Orange, how about a Fiat?

One of the many varieties of European IH tractors. I seem to see different ones each year.

Allis Chalmers and plough. This one has a strange (to me) steering arrangement

A few of the cars and the parts on offer.

Oh and another small Guldner.

Complete with mower! What more could a man ask for! I know, a Petrol Dexta.

A very smart and original Super Dexta.

More parts for sale.

Threshing display.

The milkman has arrived.

Need any bolts?

Or even a SAME.

Local tractor club stand.

Eicher Diesel for sale.

A beautiful Ford 7000.

A group of engines.

Some of the trucks.

And motor bikes.

A French tractor.

A lovely, British built, IH 614.

A six cylinder Super, nearly as good as Pascal’s is going to be!

An Eastern European Ursus. This manufacturer had a tie up with Zetor. The tractors were basic but rugged.

Hanomag

Deutz

Norad

MAN tractors.

General view of the bicycles and the car park. At a rough estimate, there were between 15,000 and 20,000 at this show and many many more exhibits than other years.

We left around 3.30 pm, tired and weary but very happy and already planning our visit next year. Back at the hotel we packed our bags, ready for an early start next morning. We are travelling once more to Zeeland to collect Gwynith and make our way back to the port.

General view of the bicycles and the car park. At a rough estimate, there were between 15,000 and 20,000 at this show and many many more exhibits than other years.

Monday morning and we are at reception to pay our bill. “Very sorry, we no longer accept cards, we have been taken over and all transactions have to be in cash”. This comes as a bit of a shock. The hotel is no longer a Golden Tulip! That explains a few changes but we have a problem. We do not have enough cash and although it is on our cards, there is a limit to how much can be drawn each day. Even if we combine our joint limits it is not going to be enough. The manageress takes Ann into the town and she raids the company account via the local bank. All is sorted but it has delayed our leaving. Thanks though, to my Ann-Ann navigation system we get to Gwynith in two and a half hours and arrive back at the Hook with enough time to enjoy a shopping trip to a super market to replenish our stock of coffee milk and filters and a tea of some of the best fish and chips I have ever tasted from the café on the dock side.

Can’t wait until next year.