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Post by Dave Homewood on May 2, 2013 9:00:25 GMT 12
I was talking with an ex-Cambridge man the other day and he was telling me his memories of various friends he knew that flew topdressers around these parts, including Tiger Moth pilots. he happened to also mention there was a topdressing compny based on Victoria Road, Cambridge (nowadays also known as the beginning of State Highway 1B) at the spot now occupied by the wool buyers company. he couldn't recall the name of the chap that owned this company but thought his first name was Tom. This chap was involved in unloading fertiliser from the Cambridge train and trucking it to the depot.
Does anyone know more? What aircraft were involved in this business? What was it called? Who was involved? And when?
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Post by thomarse on May 2, 2013 13:09:21 GMT 12
My first thought is of a Tom Worsp who owned Tiger BAH in the early 60s but IIRC it was registered to a Ngongataha address.
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Post by The Red Baron on May 2, 2013 14:31:14 GMT 12
I'll think you'll find the yard was the local carrier who probably stored the fertiliser bags after they came off the train,until they needed to be hauled out to the airstrip for the plane.
Unless Robertsons or James parked a Tiger Moth on a local airtstrip I'd be pretty confident there were no one man band operators in Cambridge.
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 2, 2013 15:23:52 GMT 12
Thanks. I don't know if any aircraft operated from there. My thought is as you say Red Baron that this was the storage yard for one of the Rukuhia operators. However there definitely had been an old airstrip on Victoria Road around that same area before the war, so I did wonder. However surely it would be just a storage depot - but who for?? And when was it there?
I guess topdressing trucks may also have used it as a depot.
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Post by delticman on May 2, 2013 16:15:40 GMT 12
My thinking, perhaps he was a groundspreader.
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 2, 2013 16:18:52 GMT 12
Maybe but Selwyn was talking at the time about aeril topdressing.
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Post by The Red Baron on May 2, 2013 16:25:55 GMT 12
Another thought they may have been a booking agent for someone like Robertsons,that wasn't uncommon in the 1950's.You could go in and order your fertiliser and they would organise trucking and pass a booking for the plane on to the operator.They may even have a sign out front saying book your aerial topdressing here.
Often you bought your fertiliser through a stock firm like Wrightsons or Newton Kings,as they would finance it for the farmers,they would also have a tie up with a ocal operator to do the spreading for them.
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 2, 2013 16:29:26 GMT 12
Perhaps that is the case. Selwyn said when he worked for Cambridge Transport he used to truck fertiliser from there up to farm strips to dump for the loader drivers to use too, I think I forgot to write that.
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