Owned and restored and by Daniel Jones of Pewsham Wiltshire
Aveling & Porter steam Roller, No. 11296. The engine was built in 1925 on an order from agents Becker and Co. of Amsterdam. The engine was exported to Koninklijke Maatschappij, a large road making contractor based in Wegenbouw, Utrecth (a district in Holland). The engine worked for this company until 1962 when it was sold into preservation to the well know preservationist and architect Gé van de Pol. The roller than passed through a couple of new owners until the early 1980s when it was purchased by Jean Tilmans of As. Belgium, who owned it until 2015. Having spent its working life on the continent it was eventually repatriated to the UK in 2016.
Enter at this point an 18 year old Daniel Jones of Pewsham near Chippenham in Wiltshire who decided not only to buy the engine, but then restore it himself, on a tiny budget by doing most of the extensive work himself. Dan originally applied for an award last year, at that point he was up to his armpits in heavy engineering. It was held over to be judged in this year’s crop, but this did not slow down Dan one bit, he redoubled his efforts and got the engine not only back into steam but even managed to take it to a few rallies, driving it there and back. Testament indeed to both his determination and his workmanship.
Obviously there will be little jobs that need doing over the coming months, but this stupendous effort is worthy of recognition by way of a restoration award.