The Caterpillar And The Mole

I went for a walk at Lodge Farm on the way to M&S.

A large modern tractor was cultivating on one side of the path and in the distance on the other side a classic machine was operating. I got a shot of three deer poking their heads above an undulation but it was too far in the distance to post. A buzzard swooped low and I got that too, again not close enough. I saw but failed to capture a rat as big as a cat and flushed a deer out of the hedge that shot back into the undergrowth before I could shoot.

I found the classic tractor parked and the driver just getting out of the cab. I love old agricultural machinery and told him so. He said, "I'll have to take you out for a ride." I said I would love it. He said, "So would I with you bouncing on my lap." Oh dear, maybe I shouldn't be so enthusiastic. :)

He said he thinks the Caterpillar is about forty-five years old. I think it might be a bit older. He had been using a device called a mole to drain the fields. These tracked machines were developed from traction engines. The first ones helped to lay the cables for San Francisco's cable car system in 1905.

I love how the work has polished the tracks.

.