SOUNDS of antique engines ticking over healthily and the smell of petrol floated through the air as collectors and enthusiast gathered at the Speewa Heritage Collectors Club annual rally.
Exhibitor John Tilbrook chatted to attendees about his 1966 Ford 800 truck, a rarity in Australia and bright red with its original bodywork, and reminisced about the old days of engineering.
Mr Tilbrook has put a lot of work into maintaining the truck since he acquired it to cart cattle and feed between Queensland and Portland in southern Victoria, driving it 3000 miles a week in its heyday.
“The Speewa rally is good – we’re all getting old, as much as we don’t want to admit it, and the younger generations aren’t following the knowledge up,” he said.
“All us old blokes get together and talk about how when our time’s up, there’ll be very few people knowing anything about the old machinery.”
Engineering has been a constant throughout Mr Tilbrook’s life as he moved from grain growing to carting stock and beyond, always coming up with ways to create and adapt machinery to meet a need.
“Back in our era when we grew up, if you wanted something different or customised you couldn’t buy it, you had to make it, so all the farms had big workshops for engineering,” he said.
“You can’t modify things anymore like you used to.”
Inside the hall, Judy Hayes displayed a portion of her collection of salt and pepper shakers and pencil sharpeners, which she loves.
Mrs Hayes has lived on a farm on the river in Wakool with her husband Cliff for 45 years, where they used to run cattle.
She has collected pencil sharpeners since her grandmother gave her one as a child and started her shaker collection with a kangaroo.
“People always ask how much they are, but they’re not for sale,” Mrs Hayes said.
She also has original Cole’s picture and puzzle books which she has had since she was five years old that now sit atop her piano out of reach of her grandchildren’s hands.
