Vintage tractor on an eight-day 12mph charity ‘dash’ to France

Vintage tractor runs are all the rage right now, but Tony Rimmer and his sons are about to take things a little further than your average 50-mile round trip.

This week they were limbering up in the poppy fields of Wroot and next Saturday they will set out from their home village on the Yorkshire / Lincolnshire / Nottinghamshire border for a destination deep in the heart of France. driving their 1964 Bradford-built International B-414.

The 600-mile adventure at an average speed of 12mph will take the team of four a week to accomplish, travelling on non-motorway roads. Presumably this tractor that’s almost half a century old is a pretty reliable runner?

Well, up to a point. It was bought for Tony by his eldest son James, since when it has only covered 100 miles and it broke down on a short journey just a couple of weeks ago. Tony, who sells specialist lighting and has no agricultural background, admits he’s not your everyday tractor enthusiast. So how did this project come about?

“We bought an old farmhouse in the lovely little village of Breuil Bernard, near Moncoutant about five or six years ago,” he says. “The region is famous for the Parthenais breed of cattle. James and I attended a tractor sale in Harrogate about two years ago and whilst I wasn’t looking he suffered from a bout of ‘wavy hand syndrome’. The next thing I knew we had bought a tractor for £2,000.

“James is the one member of the family with an agricultural background and he thought I would need a tractor over in France. I must admit I’d anticipated some form of involvement in the decision making process.

“Getting it over to our smallholding set my mind thinking. I’d read a book by comedian Tony Hawkes a few years back about hitch-hiking around Ireland with a fridge and that planted a seed in my mind.”

What convinced him that this adventure was a good idea was his wife Anne’s sister being diagnosed with cancer. “That’s when I realised that we could not just turn this into something fun and enjoyable for ourselves, but also do some good at the same time.

“Our neighbours in France, Alain and Monique, have also recently lost a member of their family to this dreadful disease. I tried to find a cancer charity that was appropriate to both the UK and France and eventually settled on Marie Curie Cancer Care, because at least it sounds a little bit French.

“The people at Marie Curie have been fantastic and they have arranged special events on our route. Anyone who donates is also allowed to sign their name on the tractor too.”

Their target is £10,000 and they have already raised £1,200 before they set off. Their run has been named ‘The Nash Dash’ the nickname for International tractors. Alastair, Tony’s second eldest son, came up with the name and has organised much of the ‘Dash’ with his father.

“It’s slightly ironic because at 12 miles an hour and with a top speed of 15mph it’s not really dashing is it? I’ve just come back from Le Mans – now that’s what I call dashing. We’re following a route of A and B roads through Nottinghamshire, the Cotswolds and down to Poole in Dorset. We sail to Guernsey and arrive in St Malo in France on Day Five. We then work our way through Normandy, the Loire region and finally on Day Eight we should reach Breuil Bernard.”

Having already suffered the ignominy of being towed back home when Tony had ventured out on a practice run recently, he’s made every effort to ensure that won’t happen again.

“I contacted a chap who completed a 400-mile road run on a similar tractor who has put me right. We have also had it thoroughly overhauled and although we still have a little more work to do before next Saturday, we are confident that it will last the course.

“We have a stout rope with us if our support vehicle needs to tow it at any time; and we have access to Case International dealers both in the UK and France. They will support us with parts if we experience difficulties.”

Tractors from the 1960s were not noted for their seating comfort, so Tony has also made sure that a new cushion is on board for the start of their journey.

“James and Alastair will quite probably undertake the bulk of the driving. James went to Bishop Burton College and has been involved in farming right around the world, from Australia to Russia. His contribution so far has not just been to buy the tractor, he also took it to bits, left it on the garage floor and disappeared to farm in Ukraine for a few months.

“But he’s an experienced tractor driver and we will be looking to him to drive it through any towns and cities we visit.”

Once ensconced in France the International will be set to work, its duties to include log-splitting and pasture topping.

“I don’t see myself using it every day but it will certainly be used regularly. We have two large wood-burning stoves and there is a lot of oak available to burn. Our hydraulic log splitter will be attached to the Nash.”

Long distance tractor run

The dash starts next Saturday from Wroot Village Hall at 1.30pm.

Joshua, Tony’s youngest son, will be documenting their story at www.thenashdash.com

You can also follow the Rimmer family’s exploits on Twitter – @TheNashDash and on Facebook.

Marie Curie Cancer Care has 2,000 nurses in the UK and last year they cared for nearly 32,000 patients. If you want to know how to donate, please visit: www.thenashdash.com