Austin Tractor, France

[Nick Salmon]

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

[Hugh Barnes]

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..

[Nigel was in Brittany]

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.

[Erich]

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

[Nick Salmon]

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.
   

[Erich]

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. ;-)

[Reckless Rat]

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.

[Stuart Giles]

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.

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.