The BIG move..

[mattsdafs]

Time for a long overdue thread on the movements of Essex Dafs..

For some time now,the Essex Dafs forum has been very quite..so I'm hoping to get some life back into it..

Essex Dafs Central...Great Bromley..

FARMER GEORGE..

As some of you will remember,it was on the 31st July 2016 that we broke the sad news of the passing of Farmer George..greatly missed..

George owned a farm at Great Bromley,Colchester which was to become the home of Essex Dafs..here we stayed for a number of years enjoying the freedom of the farm and brewing many mugs of tea,often with George joining us for a brew and a long chat..we even convinced George to let us hold Essex Dafs weekenders which we did for a number of years..

Essex Dafs quickly grew and many a Daf came and went but some managed to stay..often we were well over are agreed allowance of which George kindly reminded us of..and the promises of..It will be sorted soon George..😉..

We knew 1 day we would have to relocate but thought we would deal with that if it ever happened,hopefully it wouldn't but eventually it did..

How hard can it be to find a barn?😊..we were about to find out😟..

As we had built up a good relationship with George's family we were given plenty of time to relocate..which we were greatful of and needed..

The hunt was on..

It took 19 months to find somewhere,with endless bugging by Linda to all Estate agents finally payed off.

Out of the blue 1 day,we received a call from a gentleman called Chris who had storage available,even better he was on a farm and had no issues with storing vehicles..how lucky were we 😄.
We quickly arranged a viewing but apon arrival it became clear this was not perfect..we had been spoilt at Great Bromley 😯..what we were offered was a big posh polly tunnel,formally a chicken shed 😕..which hadn't even been started on and would take a month to sort..😢..
Time was fast running out for us so we excepted and could even store some vehicles in a cattle shed until the chicken shed was ready..

Time to move..

1st the Dafs were moved,this was done by my mate Mark who has a trailer and a van and was also looking for some vehicle storage,we agreed to share the shed but due to the 8 Dafs,4 VW vans,1 Landrover,1 Granny,shelving,trailers and a pool table,this was quickly filled..the shed is 82 ft long but only 21ft wide..
New rules at the new farm ment all vehicles must be stored undercover,however this quickly didn't happen with 1 VW and the Landie outside the tent and us scratching are heads wondering what to do..

With promises of we would sort it,we did what all new tenants would do..run away and worry about it later😂..we had bigger issues to sort...THE SPARES..

Now anybody who has visited us will know we hold 1 or 2 parts in stock 😉..as room had run out with all the vehicles taking up the shed storage,I needed somewhere fast..
I had no option..and rented 2 20ft containers 😦..

This was going to take time..but over the next few weekends saw all the spares fill both containers and a few spares made it over to the farm..limited to just me and my 55 estate Nell some weekends,Mark with his van and trailer when he wasn't working and also help from Peter when he could find some time..I never knew a Honda Civic rear end could get that low on the ground and the car could still move 😂..

Now what to do about the VW and Landie..

As it happened Chris had another chicken shed 😕,we were desperate so approached him with the view of also taking this on..his 1st reaction was..sorry NO..but the next day we received a call from Chris with a change of heart..of course it wasn't anything to do with Chris talking it over with his wife that night 😂..so we now have a 2nd tent which we start using from the beginning of February..

So over the next few weekends,all the spares will be transferred to the farm,busy times and empty pockets ahead but if anyone needs any parts then please let me know..but well in advance please..and sorry,no next day deliveries😊

The things we do for Dafs 😊..and long may it continue..



Matt.

[starider]

Hi, Well done Matt,pity I live so far away otherwise would help.It's great that you are still keen to carry on with all the problems you've had. Storage is always a problem, my wife has run a china matching business for nearly 20 years, but had found it increasingly difficult to lift and pack large parcels.She has transfered to cutlery matching and trying to move on 1000s of pounds worth of china/tableware to make room for the cutlery is a nightmare.So if anyone needs any china/tableware by the box full, get in touch FOC, before we lash out on a skip.Enough of our troubles all the best of good luck.................starider

[dafman]

How wonderful and very exciting! Good work, Matt! John and I will have to come visit again, soon! Eagerly awaiting your next update!

[mattsdafs]

Thankyou..

Yes a lot of hard work ahead and a very understanding girlfriend,just as well she likes Dafs..

At the moment I'm moving vehicles between the 2 barns,the larger barn will contain all the Dafs and spares..once this is sorted,I have the 2 20ft containers of parts to empty..

As I only have weekends to sort this,I'm not expecting it to be over soon,more like months rather than weeks..😕..but it will be worth the effort..

[triumph66]

Good to see an update on your storage and that you will soon be in operation sometime this year...... I would love to visit sometime to see your collection when I am next in your neck of the wood.



Storage is an issue for me too with my collection of vintage Bolens garden tractors. Fortunately I found a place with a mate of mine and have a bit of room to play with my working tractors.

[mattsdafs]

Looks like we need to relocate again..😠..

2020 will have a new..er..new big move..again..

More at a later date but searching has begun..😉

[andrejuan]

Hope it goes well Matt. Feel free to keep edging further north :-) Looking forward to an event or two.

[mattsdafs]

Thanks John..

Be good to catch up and when we are sorted,a trip to Wakefield is on the cards..still have the multi coloured 33 and turquoise 44 to collect 😉..

[andrejuan]

Brilliant !!

[Nick]

thats annoying for you mate, hope you find somewhere sharpish and maybe better conditions