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Austin Tractor, France - Nick Salmon - 05-09-2017
On our travels in August we came across the Dufresne museum at Azay-le-Rideau, just south-west of Tours. It is the lifelong collection of Maurice Dufresne who rescued a huge variety of machinery that otherwise would quite literally have rotted away or been destroyed. Eventually he was able to buy the former paper mill at Azay-le-Rideau and convert it into a museum to house his treasures. Well worth visiting if you are down that way. There's everything from 17th century weaving looms through cars and planes, a mobile guillotine(!), engines, water wheel, it goes on and on - in fact the walk through the buildings is 1km. It is all weird and wonderful and very well presented. Well worth a couple of hours if you are passing.
Regretably not an A7 in sight but Sir Herbert gets a look-in with this lovely tractor:
More photos from the collection: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm4jDQtS
RE: Austin Tractor, France - Hugh Barnes - 05-09-2017
There is a new book just published on Austin Tractors. I have been supplied with a review copy by the publishers and my review should appear in the 2018A Grey Magazine..
RE: Austin Tractor, France - Nigel was in Brittany - 05-09-2017
We have been there several times ,a very eccentric but interesting collection, as you say from cars to a green Routemaster. It generates its own electricity from a turbine on show below the floor in the museum.
RE: Austin Tractor, France - Erich - 05-09-2017
Wonderful collection. I love how the early steam tractors(I assume that's what they are) look like mobile stills...or maybe they are mobile stills...
Erich
RE: Austin Tractor, France - Nick Salmon - 06-09-2017
(05-09-2017, 06:27 PM)Erich Wrote: Wonderful collection. I love how the early steam tractors(I assume that's what they are) look like mobile stills...or maybe they are mobile stills...
Erich
Erich - If you are referring to this one then yes, it is a mobile alembic still from 1926. It was built in Clermont-Ferrand and was recovered from the Chateau D'Artigny in the Loire region. Delightful, isn't it.
RE: Austin Tractor, France - Erich - 06-09-2017
Thanks, Nick. That's the one. For distilling brandy? Or maybe for distilling absinthe, hence the mobile ability? I can imagine the French "Revenuers" chasing this down. ;-)
RE: Austin Tractor, France - Reckless Rat - 07-09-2017
It's called an "alambic mobile" or "bouilloire de cru" - it's a mobile distillery and was used to tour round the villages distilling grapes into alcohol for the locals. Only certain individuals had a licence which has over the past 20 years or so passed into history.
RE: Austin Tractor, France - Stuart Giles - 08-09-2017
Have been to the museum several years ago, loads of fascinating stuff in there -especially the huge underground horizontal waterwheel/turbine. Managed to Miss the Austin tractor though.
(07-09-2017, 11:58 AM)Reckless Rat Wrote: It's called an "alambic mobile" or "bouilloire de cru" - it's a mobile distillery and was used to tour round the villages distilling grapes into alcohol for the locals. Only certain individuals had a licence which has over the past 20 years or so passed into history.
The neighboring farmers to a friend of ours who lives Near Chatillon Sur Colmont don't seem to have heard that DIY distillation has passed into history
. I'm sure that I could run my car on their Calvados - I don't have any memory of the evening following on from their hospitality.