Wallis & Steevens Vectis Traction and Threshing Engine

This engine was ordered by Percy Blake of Brighstone on the Isle of Wight in 1909. It is a 6hp expansion traction engine and threshing drum. In the 1920s it was repaired at Whiteheads in Newport but the then owner could not pay the cost, so it was subsequently sold to Normal Ball. In 1946 there was a delay when moving to his father’s farm and the engine was stored in Lynn Quarry for a few days. When the workers returned to fire up the boiler they discovered that some fittings had been stolen. The engine remained in the quarry, unused for 20 years. Several owners then moved it to Dorset and Wales, still unrestored. It was finally purchased in 1978 by enthusiastic restorers in Lymington. The engine which worked for less than 40 years and stood derelict for nearly 50, finally worked again in 1995.

Photographs taken at the New Forest Show, July 2018.