Bespoke – Grant Thornton

FIRST PERSON
PASSIONS
THE COLLECTOR
For sheer diversity, Bill Kemball’s collection of
agricultural machinery is hard to beat. When you add
up the number of different machines –200 tractors
alone –it’s clear the word ‘hobby’ falls pitifully short
INTERVIEW GLYN BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES PFAFF
6
BILL KEMBALL, 70, comes across as
something of aRenaissance man. His
primary income comes from warehousing
and haulage firm Debach Enterprises.
His other major concern is the 1,650
acres of Wantisdean Hall Farm, deep in
the Suffolk countryside. ‘That’s what
Ireally am: afarmer, and afarmer’s son.’
And aspects of both come together in
Bill’s overwhelming love of vintage
agricultural vehicles.
‘Mechanical engineering has been my
interest since Iwas aboy. Istarted
collecting old tractors after Ileft school.
Now Ihave quite afew.’ For years, Bill
was single-handedly able to put on a
Power of the Past display at Wantisdean,
featuring vintage tractors, steam engines,
gyrotillers, alarge, steam-driven
reciprocating saw and –cue strains of
Tubular Bells –heavy horses, the
magnificent Suffolk drays.
Having been to events like this, Ican
vouch for the sheer hair-raising thrill of
these machines, so big they seem alive.
‘Yes, as alive as the horses. They’re
massive things. Some of the steam
engines go back to the 1800s; many
of the tractors are from the First World
War.’And offhand, you’d have, say?
‘The collection of tractors alone, in
excess of 200. And really quite anumber
of steam engines. Then there’s the
vintage commercial vehicles, delivery
vans and things, the oldest built in 1911.
Solid rubber tyres, some of them. Plus a
collection of old army vehicles, as well
as Model TFords. Are you familiar with
those? I’ve got seven.’ Good lord.
Where are so many vehicles stabled?
For the most part, in aircraft hangars;
another string to Bill’sbow is former US
Air Force base Bentwaters, now known as
Bentwaters Parks. To this day, the site has
airfields, control towers, decontamination
showers, dog kennels and nuclear
weapons stores. It gets used for film and
TV –‘TopGear, Dog Borstal,stuff like
that’ –but, being pretty secure, it can also
handle storage of valuable vintage
machinery.‘We also have recording
sessions in what’sknown as the Hush
House, where they tested aircraft engines.
And there’savegetable production group
I’m involved with, and another company
putting in banks of computers. Then
we’ve got fireworks in old bomb stores,
vintage wine, classic cars…’
Despite the diversification, Bill
still seems to care above all about just
two things. In September, Wantisdean
will hold aWartime Weekend. ‘It’ll be
astep back in time, aweekend in the
middle of 1943, with Land Army, Home
Guard, making and mending, all that.’
The biggest parts of that weekend,
however, asfar as Bill is concerned, will
be preparation of farm-grown food, and
the astonishing, rattling equipment that
once helped produce it. ‘My heart is and
always will be in agriculture –the family
farm.’ Ashrug. ‘And all my life, my
hobby has been restoring and caring for
beautiful old machinery.’
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