Winterswijk Meddo2008

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There is something about Winterswijk and Meddo. Maybe it’s the hotel or may be it’s the show itself or again maybe it is the company.

Saturday dawned bright and cool and by 8.30 am Ann and I were walking in Winterswijk market place among the many stalls selling plants and cheeses, meat and bread. We had our breakfast at Baker Barts, a bread shop we have come to know over here, fresh baked, crisp brown bread rolls filled with cheese, ham, salad, hard boiled eggs, all crammed into the roll and served with fresh coffee. A breakfast fit for a king. Then off to visit more shops where Ann finds a pair of knee length leather boots as worn by all fashionable Dutch ladies. They will go well with some of her outfits. The leatherwork here is top class and very soft and pliable.

We wander through the many stalls marvelling at the fish and meat, this is something we don’t see in England. We do have a local market in East Dereham but it is nothing like the markets in Holland. We find a bulb stall and take some time to make our choice to take back to home. We had a beautiful show of flowers from our bulbs that we took back home from the Kukenhof earlier this year.

After loading the car with our purchases we head for Meddo and the show. This seems to get bigger each year with more and more exhibits. The auction is in full swing when we get there but nothing catches the eye although there is a range of interesting hand drills and push hoes.

We find Emiel’s display, which includes his Mercedes camper, and Pascal and Franz are already there. The talking starts and it is just as if we pick up exactly where we left off the last time we met! That is why I say Meddo is special! Emiel introduces us all to his young lady and suddenly it seems that we are one big family.

Emiel’s exhibits are top class, as usual. He and his father have some really great tractors including some that he has not brought, but this year a very nice Hanomag and a single furrow reversible Lemkin plough are part of the exhibit. I feel very privileged to have seen their farm and the many items that they have there. If you get an invite, snap it up, it is worth the journey.

A very smart French built Farmall owned by a friend of his is also on display. Very original and un-painted. I tell him it would be a shame to paint such a lovely tractor, as she looks so good in her present condition.

Franz passes round pictures of his tractors making us all envious. There really are some beautiful tractors out there.

As we admire Emiel’s tractors, there is a sound like tearing silk and “my” big six cylinder Guldner drives past. The sound, and it’s the first time I have heard it running, is absolutely fantastic.

The rest of the group finally drag me away as I have been standing there drooling. This year must be the year of the Guldner at Meddo as there are many variations of this iconic tractor on show, from a little single cylinder up to the mighty six.

Franz has to leave us so we say goodbye and make our way back to Emiel's exhibit then Henk arrives and this year he has brought Janneke, I rush in and make sure I get a long cuddle and a kiss. It is great to see them.

The talking begins again and the ladies enthuse about Winterwijk market on Saturday mornings. It is hard to believe that we do not have a common language in the group. Henk acts as translator when words cannot be found but we manage most of the time and have great fun doingso. I feel embaressed because I have no language skills and the average Dutch person speaks wonderful English.

My phone rings and it is Jos, the final member of our party, he asks where we are and we all jump up and down waving as we see him walking nearby.

The talking starts again!

The thing I notice about the Meddo show is all the variety of Farmall tractors. I have mentioned it before but it seems that IH made a tractor for every day of the year. This year I see a two cylinder one built into what looks like a B250 chassis. Then there is this little beauty. All models that we have never seen in England.

Once again we come across Oscars favourite, the Hanomag that has as many levers as a signal box.

And a nice little British tractor. Think it must have been built by someone who really wanted a Lanz Bulldog but had neither the money nor the space to fulfil his dream. Wonder if I could find a Guldner six built like that. I decide that I really want the full sized version so decided, like the Johnny Cash song, to get it one bit at a time. Last year I bought the hat, this year it will have to be the seat cushion I saw on one of the stalls!

We check out the second hand parts stalls for anything that we may need. Pascal sees a bonnet for a Major and starts his collection of parts to turn his tractor into a six cylinder one. Obviously another Johnny Cash fan!

By now it is lunch time and we all follow Ann’s nose to the frittes stall, but on the way we pass a very interesting machine, a barbed wire maker. This intricate machine is taking the wire from different reels, twisting it together making the barbs, fitting them and then putting the whole lot on reels. Jos and Henk are engrossed and are soon clambering up on the machine to watch it working.

After lunch we continue walking, looking and talking. Then Jos lets out a shout of joy and rushes to leap onto the seat of a lovely little Nuffield 10/42. This tractor is just like the one he let get away which he used to drive. He would really love one of these you can tell by his face!

The afternoon draws to a close and we return to Emiel’s display to collect bags and baggage. Jos is not going to be with us on Sunday so he says his farewells to Emiel and we make our weary way back to the hotel to change and prepare for dinner. Not too weary though as the day has not finished yet. At the hotel we are greeted by Greta and Sara. They have been shopping with Jos’s credit card! Well Jos, too bad there is not enough left for you to take that 10/42 home with you.

Time for dinner and once again the hotel puts on a great meal for us. We take over the dining room with our large table and yet the staff does not seem to mind, even when we are still talking and laughing after all the other diners have left. The ladies eventually retire exhausted and Jos, Henk and I retire to the bar area where we continue putting the world to rights and talking Fordson tractors.

Next morning we come down to breakfast to find that we are all seated on a large table at one end of the breakfast room. We start breakfast at around 8 am and eventually leave the breakfast room at 11am!!! By the time we leave the ladies have next year all planned and it will include major shopping forays into Wnterwijk for clothes and other goodies. Greta has also planned our next visit to Holland so that it includes a visit to areas that she would like to take us to in Belgium.

We adjourn to the car park and unpack two Super Major wheel discs from Henks car and load them into Rover. Then it is time to say goodbye to Jos, Greta and Sara until next time. Henk, Janneke, Ann and I set off for another day at the show. This time we will concentrate on the stalls of second hand parts and of course, the dried sausage and other meats which we can take back to England.

After another fantastic day the weather changes and a shower of rain damps the afternoons activities. It only lasts for a short time but it is enough for the people to start to drift away. Exhibits are being packed and loaded so we make our way back to Emiel’s display. He has found a petrol Dexta!!

This is a very interesting find, The description on the display board says she is a 1962 machine from Denmark but when I start to look around at the codes it becomes clear that all is not what it seems...

Her serial number starts 957E and the early petrol Dextas had 959E numbers.

All her other codes on the castings give a date of mid 1958 but there is no date code on the clutch housing. Very interesting. As the earliest petrol Dexta that we have found so far is from November 1960 and all references to them in the parts book and manuals are from that date so what do we have here?

Is it a petrol engine on a diesel clutch housing and rear end that someone has made up? A Dexta ASP? It certainly is not a 1962 version. Or could it be a very early version built by Ford to try in 1958? One thing that supports this is the thought from Mark Pugh that the petrol Dexta has a different clutch housing because of the extra length of the starter pinion. So a petrol engine might not fit onto a diesel clutch housing. There is certainly no casting code visible on this ladies.

More petrol Dexta mystery! Beside her however is a petrol MF35 and it is nice to compare the similarities and the differences between the two engines.

Emiel and his father then introduce us to their latest purchase. A nice little 1962 diesel Dexta that was on sale at the show. Its in good condition but Emiel will have to have the lift off as it has the usual Dexta problem of a worn position control cam follower pin.

Henk and Janneke say their goodbyes and start back home. Ann and I take a moment to sitdown with Emiel and his father in the camper and reflect on the two days. As is usual, we have had two great days with our friends and a number of strange and interesting tractors and cars to see. There was even a Bedford lorry that had driven from England to be in the truck exhibits. Should I take Dotty or Henrietta next year?

Time to say goodbye to Meddo for another year. We walk back to the car through a now emptying show ground, past an old Farmall in lovely original condition.

Then we see something I have been longing to try. A pair of clogs! Pascal presented us with a pair of decorated ones filled with Dutch style sweets and some straw that he and Eva made up for us, but these ones have leather uppers and will come in handy in the garden. With my orange hat and clogs I only need the bright orange trousers to become a proper Dutchman!

PS.

I started out by saying Meddo is different. May Ann and I say thank you to all who make our visits so memorable. In no particular order: Henk and Janneke, Jos, Greta and Sara, Franz, Pascal and Eva, Emiel, Anneke and his father for suggesting Meddo as a meeting point, it seems so many years ago now! We are already looking forward and arranging Meddo 2009! It is becoming a family gathering not to be missed and it is so lovely to meet all the ladies. (Not the blue ones this time), it makes the friendships complete. And last but certainly not the least, Oscar and Wilma for making this all possible. Without the site this would never have happened.

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