£250,000 vintage tractors and farm equipment museum planned at Fleet

Bill Payne with the vintage tractors he is planning to exhibit in a new museum. Photo: VNG100814-65

A major new visitor attraction for South Holland is being planned at Fleet.

Hundreds of thousands of people have glimpsed Bill Payne’s ever-increasing large collection of vintage tractors as they pass his home on the A17 Washway Road.
Now the Farm Café owner is hoping to capitalise on the growing interest. He’s ready to spend £250,000 creating a vintage tractor and farm machinery museum set in landscaped gardens.

Bill said: “I think there’s a big demand for it.
“I’ve been collecting tractors for about 15 years and had them on the lawn at my bungalow.
“People are always stopping and asking to look around. There’s a lot of foreigners doing that.”

Bill’s firm Hurnfield Hargate Ltd has had plans drawn up for a museum with space for 100 exhibits. He’s currently got around 40 tractors in his collection, including five cherished Massey Fergusons.
There’s also three old wagons, including a hay cart dating from 1847, binders and reapers.

He said: “Tractors appeal to a wide range of people, and these vintage ones particularly interest older folk.
“It prompts nostalgia and people often tell me that they used to own or drive the type of tractors in my collection.”

Bill (76) is currently awaiting completion of the restoration of four more tractors. He usually adds about six new vehicles to his collection each year – always already restored and in working condition.
The museum, earmarked for land next to the Farm Café, feature a verandah, wood panelling and large glass windows.
The finished project would create about five jobs, including staff knowledgable about the machinery.
Entrance fee would likely be about £5 for adults.

Bill said: “If it goes through planning all right, I think this bespoke building would really look the part.
“I hope it gets passed because it would be another attraction for the area.”
A decision on the planning application is expected in October. If it’s passed, Bill would use local contractors and hopes the museum could open next year.

Bill’s parents George and Ada started the Farm Café in the 1960s and his younger brother Harold runs The Anglia Motel on the other side of the road.