A PRIVATE collection of machinery including a 1950s fire engine once used at Broadway Fire Station, 25 tractors and 36 trailers have been discovered at a farm near Malvern.

The equipment and machine parts were crammed into about 10 sheds and barns at Newland Court Farm, Newland, which had been the home of farmer Lloyd Jenkins.

Mr Jenkins died aged 90 just before Christmas last year and since then his nephews and nieces have discovered his passion for collecting and dealing in machinery and documents relating to their family history.

His nephew Colin Anstey of Broomhall, near Worcester, said: “He was very well known in the farming community. He never missed a farm sale and he would always go to market. Everyone knew him.”

The 150 acre Newland Court Farm is thought to have originally been part of the Madresfield estate – 3,000 acres of the estate were sold off in 1919 – and was bought by Benjamin and Eva Jenkins from the previous owners in 1927. It was a traditional mixed farm with milking cows, pigs and sheep.

Lloyd was the youngest of five children and, when his father died in 1952, he continued the family farming tradition. He lived at the property for 88 years and became well known in the local farming community.

“He was a true bachelor - genuine and honest - and he had a real love for his farm and machinery. He loved machinery and farm sales,” said Mr Anstey.

Mr Jenkins enjoyed buying and selling farm machinery, but not everything sold. Mr Anstey has lost count of the number of loads of scrap taken away during the process of sorting out the property. “He was not a hoarder, but he was a collector and he would see something and have an idea for what he could do with it.”

Many people involved in local agriculture knew of Mr Jenkin’s store of machinery and spare parts. He would be the first port of call if they were looking for a replacement part or some second-hand equipment.

How he came to buy a 1956 Dennis fire engine, powered by a Rolls Royce engine, remains a mystery although Mr Anstey believes his uncle may have had an idea to use it for irrigation or possibly wanted the water pump for some reason.

He said the farm workers at Newland Court Farm - Duncan Patterson, Chris Green and Roy Mitchell – have done a brilliant job in clearing out the sheds and sorting out the equipment. They have also managed to get all the tractor engines, as well as the fire engine, running.

“There have got every tractor engine working now and the fire engine is running. It is fantastic. I know Lloyd had the fire engine in action in 1990 but I do not think it has been on the road for 40 years.

“The water pump works and there are a lot of the original pipes, the hose nozzle, the blue light and the bell. There are even three original red flags which would have been waved to warn people when fire engine was there. I think the only thing we are missing is the ladder,” said Mr Anstey.

He added that it had been really fascinating discovering about the farm and the Jenkins family. “The only regret is that there is nobody left to ask about things – Lloyd was the end of the line.”

The livestock from the farm is due to be sold at Worcester market on Saturday March 11, the furniture from the house went to auction at Philip Serrell’s auction room in Malvern yesterday (Thursday) and auctioneers HJ Pugh are putting the machinery under the hammer on Saturday April 1.