Bespoke â Grant Thornton

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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.’ www.grant-thornton.co.uk
PEOPLE AND PLACES ‘Mechanical engineering has been my interest since Iwas aboy. Istarted collecting old tractors after Ileft school’ www.grant-thornton.co.uk
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