HISTORIC ploughing engines dating back more than 100 years and built by a leading Yorkshire manufacturer have sold for more than £200,000.

Altogether the Keeley Collection fetched in excess of £1.5m and attracted world-wide interest and featuring a record UK price paid for a vintage tractor.

Among the 600 lots was a selection of engines built by John Fowler and Co Engineers of Hunslet, near Leeds.

The pick of the bunch was a 1930 T3B John Fowler compound eight ton steam roller that was sold for £61,000 - £41,000 more than its lower guide price. Sold with all its tar spraying equipment and tanks intact it sported an attractive oval brass plate bearing the name of the original owners – the Mechanical Tarspraying and Grouting Company of Reading.

Darlington and Stockton Times: The 1930 T3B John Fowler compound eight ton steam roller sold for £61,000 – £41,000 more than its lower guide price.
The 1930 T3B John Fowler compound eight ton steam roller sold for £61,000 – £41,000 more than its lower guide price

Also performing well was ‘Noreen’, an 1873 single steam ploughing engine that had a lower guide price of £40,000 and was sold for £58,000.

The machine is one of the earliest examples in the country originally belonging to well-known agricultural contractors Beeby Brothers, based in Leicestershire.

There was also 1914 ‘My Delight’ – thought to be the only surviving example of the small 8nhp class – which had a lower guide price of £50,000 and was sold for £54,000 and ‘Master John’, a rare 10nhp T1 class ploughing engine dating from 1916 with a lower guide price of £60,000 that fetched £52,000.

The historically important Keeley Collection was owned by vintage steam enthusiast John Keeley, who passed away in December 1999. Together with his wife, May, he ran the internationally renowned Knowl Hill Steam & Country Show in Berkshire for more than 30 years.

Following Mrs Keeley’s death in April last year, her family asked Cambridgeshire auctioneers Cheffins to sell the collection.

Chairman Bill King said: "John and May were avid and discerning collectors and that was reflected in the popularity of the sale.

"We had an enormous crowd, with more than 1,500 people attending on the day, and some fierce bidding – with buyers from across the world, including Europe and America.

"The auction will undoubtedly go down as one of the most significant sales of steam engines in recent times. The prices achieved and the interest generated was unbelievable. From the first lot to the last, it was tremendous."

The lot that attracted the highest price was a 1928 Foden D type timber tractor named ‘Early Bird’, which sold for £140,000.

Among the other highlights was a 1917 International Mogul 12-25 vintage tractor, one of only five survivors in the UK and 16 known worldwide, which fetched £84,000 - £64,000 more than its lower guide price and a UK record.

The Keeley Collection featured more than 600 lots including 15 steam engines, 50 vintage tractors, 30 commercial vehicles and scores of spares and other memorabilia.