mcspool Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 Does anybody have any recollections of Joe Hunt's scrap yard at Molesworth, UK? I think it was closed down in the mid 1990s, and I am looking for people who knew Mr. Hunt (he passed away in 1998) and/or have any recollections or even pictures of the military vehicles he had on his premises. Am working on what will most likely turn out to be a wild goose chase, but maybe this thread could generate some useful info. Please PM me if need be. Thanks in advance! Hanno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 X 6 Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 Does anybody have any recollections of Joe Hunt's scrap yard at Molesworth, UK? I think it was closed down in the mid 1990s, and I am looking for people who knew Mr. Hunt (he passed away in 1998) and/or have any recollections or even pictures of the military vehicles he had on his premises. Hanno There are recollections, and 'photos, of Joe's yard on this forum already but I can't remember which thread they are on. I'm sure someone on here with a better memory than me will be able to tell you. I only ever dealt with Joe's brother Jacob as Joe was, by then, very ill with cancer. Although the yard was in it's last days when I was buying bits from Jacob there was still tons of interesting stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?7998-Hunt-s-Yard-photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted October 11, 2010 Author Share Posted October 11, 2010 Excellent, thanks! Now, who remembers seeing any ex-RAF Commer Q2 15-cwt 4x2 Vans (see below) on site? I have one reported sighting (no pictures) of circa five of them of the early 1980s. Would really like to hear if anyone else spotted them, or even took pictures! And where did they go? Thanks, Hanno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooky Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Many happy Sundays spent in this yard looking for bits no health and safety then, you just had to hope that the chains holding the dogs didnt reach to where you where and that they were strong enough Have some piccies of an Bedford MW we dragged out of there, will have to look them out A veritable mecca of WW2 stuff from Austin K2 ATV's to an ex Billy Smarts Circus Mack LMSW and yes I can remember the Commers If only we had digital cameras in those days One very good story Joe's father (known as Bearskin I believe) was at a sale at Ruddington and was bidding and buying lot after lot. The auctioneer after a time suggested that it was about time there was some money on the table. He stood up walked to the front of the room, reached inside his ex army greatcoat and produced a wad of white five pound notes, slapped them on the rostrum and without saying a word walked back to his seat. Happy days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nptimber Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Does anybody have any recollections of Joe Hunt's scrap yard at Molesworth, UK? I think it was closed down in the mid 1990s, and I am looking for people who knew Mr. Hunt (he passed away in 1998) and/or have any recollections or even pictures of the military vehicles he had on his premises. Am working on what will most likely turn out to be a wild goose chase, but maybe this thread could generate some useful info. Please PM me if need be. Thanks in advance! Hanno I visited hunts yard several times as my father operated a low loader and moved quite a few motors for joe most of these were jones KL 55 cranes i was always interested in old motors and the yard was a good place to view ex military vehicles . We bought an AEC Mammoth Minor from the yard which my father completely restored this was bought as the yard was being cleared and many motors were being cut up when we recovered the aec the front winch rollers on my scammell pioneer were salvaged at this time ,if only we had lots of money an storage space at the time lots of others could have been saved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?7998-Hunt-s-Yard-photos. I'm pretty certain I had the front axle off that blue 6x6 crane :-) (it was later on a site and got rolled over by kids - came back for cutting up). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 (edited) Brooky, nptimber, Thanks for sharing your recollections. Looks like Hunt's Yard was one of thoze "magic" places which have all but disappeared today due to HSE regulations and general decline of this type of business. Regards, Hanno Edited October 12, 2010 by mcspool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprog4 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 One very good story Joe's father (known as Bearskin I believe) was at a sale at Ruddington and was bidding and buying lot after lot. The auctioneer after a time suggested that it was about time there was some money on the table. He stood up walked to the front of the room, reached inside his ex army greatcoat and produced a wad of white five pound notes, slapped them on the rostrum and without saying a word walked back to his seat. Thanks for mentioning that: As a young teen, I met either Joe or Jacob, I don't know. My father used to buy equipment from Molesworth, and he passed on a wonderful couple of stories like the one above. Once when Hunt was buying petrol tankers by the dozen at an auction, my father saw him crush a huge bundle of notes in one of his kids' hands, saying "Go give that to the man." Not spoiled by money, you could say. My favourite story, and a type of occurrence which has cropped up in other scrap yards: I should say that my dad used to push me back a few feet because he and Joe/Jacob used what my mum called "language" in their dealings. So, one day a car dealer from London had been snooping around the piled up wrecks, and came across a Lagonda --- maybe 1930's vintage and quite rare. Joe/Jacob, as always, quoted a cash price, and the Lagonda was lifted onto one of Joe's trucks for delivery. At this point the car dealer got "clever" and started pointing to defects,damages, missing items, and said [the actual figures are forgotten] "No, I can't give you 300, here's 200." Joe said "No, 300 is the price so you're not having it." The dealer countered, typically, saying "Okay, you're a hard man, I'll give you 250 cash." At this point my father re-telling the story always insisted the main point was coming. Joe Hunt said "No, you're not having it. I quoted you a fair price and you tried to cheat me. Unload it, boys!" So the lads there lifted the Lagonda up off the truck, and the dealer went wide-eyed and started pushing notes, 'way higher than 300, at Joe. Joe just said "You think you're better than me, don't you. Well you're not. Put it in the crusher, boys," --- and they did, in front of the dealer's eyes! Never mind the value, it was a principle at stake, and Joe finished by saying to the man "Now go back to bloody London and learn some manners." My father used to remind me that men like Joe were good men, never mind whether or not he washed and shaved or lived in a neat house; "You know a man's character by his actions", and I have never forgotten it, 50 years later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbrook Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 If there was a "golden age" in the old motor game it was when that yard was on the go. It was the source of some great Sunday mornings. Ill have a look for some piccies..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royh5366 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I guess it was this yard i came across this yard when i had been working at RAF Alconbury and then visited when it was open every other weekend, phone to confirm as i remember. It would be as it was being cleared getting on for twenty years ago and i was searching for Champ bits. I seem to remember scrambling over a mountain of unobtanium to get to bits and coming across a room with a load of hand wound air raid sirens (wish i'd bought some). There was a completely rotted out champ by the fence, probably what caught my attention in the first place with a black engine.....if i remember correctly. scary what sticks in your mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean N Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I remember Joe's yard from the late '80s through to mid '90s when it cleared, all sorts of stuff there. If I remember rightly the red / white Mat in the other thread ha an 8 ton Harvey Frost (or possibly Mann Egerton) crane mounted on a big turntable on the chassis. There was also a AEC RT, a normal control Commer Superpoise (the small one with the wide bonnet - can't remember the model), a big Fiat and various other stuff in that shed. Outside I can remember Antars (less their engines), Explorers (there was a very dismantled but very sound and tidy one and a few more tatty ones), Austins, an ex-circus Dodge Kew Fargo (Smarts or Sir Robert Fossett's), and down the front nearer the road some odd stuff dotted about including a complete but very tatty International Green Diamond fire engine. I also remember Albion Clansmans / HD23Ns, Millys, Martians, much more. I've got photos somewhere but they're in a box so may take some digging out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean N Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 (edited) Just came across a list of stuff that was there last time I went, as he was starting to clear out: Top shed: Fordson 7V coachbuilt luton ex-RN International panel van ex-USN International wrecker O.M. panel van Bedford RL Green Goddess Bedford RL AFS chassis & cab Commer B (Superpoise) normal control Scammell Explorer chassis & cab AEC Matador with 8 ton Harvey Frost crane Leyland Martian heavy artillery tractor, no engine Thames Trader dropside truck Austin Series 3 flatbed Bottom shed: Commer QXM pump escape with ladders & wheeled escape. AEC Regent double decker Scammell Pioneer Scammell Pioneer (toolboxes etc. missing) Bedford CA Dormobile Dennis Pax V pump water tender Leyland Hippo III fuel tanker RAF Outside: Seddon flatbed truck Albion 10 ton 6x4 with office body Atkinson 6x6 ex-Robert Fossett's Circus Bedford QL Leyland Hippo II chassis & cab Leyland Hippo III fuel tanker RAF Thornycroft Nubian tractors x about 8! Thornycroft heavy tractor no engine (I think this must have been an Antar, but I don't know why I haven't put that) Diamond T ex-USAF crash tender Diamond T wrecker (969?) Fordson GS truck BMC Noddy van Scammell 6x6 Constructor International Green Diamond fire engine Dodge Kew normal control Part broken up or probably beyond restoration: Leyland Martian x about 5+ Scammell Explorer x about 5+ Leyland Hippo II x 2 Leyland Hippo III, Beaver, Octopus x 4+ Albion 10 ton 6x4 x 6+ Bedford MW Bedford RL crash tender x 5+ Humber FV1600 Austin K9 x 2 AEC Militant Mk1 AEC Militant Mk3 AEC Regent Bedford-Duple SB Bedford-Duple VAS Bedford-Marshall VAS Thornycroft Nubian tractor x 4+ Thornycroft Antar x 4+ Commer Walkthru LWB ...and "much else unidentified" Edited October 13, 2014 by Sean N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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