We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along last Friday and helped us celebrate 150 years of trading at our anniversary event.  It was fabulous to see so many familiar faces and meet a host of new ones! Our first guests started arriving at just after 2pm and, with a nod to our heritage and just a hint of nostalgia, they were greeted by the distinctive sound of the John Bownes steam engine as they entered the yard.  After much chatter, merriment and catching up with friends and colleagues, the last guests left late in the evening which we took as the sign of a good party!

It was a real family affair with several generations of the Bownes family in attendance and we were delighted to see many of our customers with their families too.  A bar and a hog roast (serving simply the best turkey baps) made sure everyone was suitably fed and watered, and our very own Sue provided a selection of cakes which would turn Mr Kipling green with envy!  John Bownes is all about horsepower though, so to make sure our guests had their “fix”, we had a range of machines on display with tractors from Valtra including the heavyweight T and S series tractors, telehandlers from JCB including the new Agri Super, and a selection of quad bikes amongst others.

We were also pleased to have Kramp in attendance who explained the benefits of ordering parts direct from Kramp through the unique secure login section of the John Bownes website to many of our customers.

As if that wasn’t enough, we also held a charity auction on the night which raised a fantastic £2430 for local charity St. Lukes Hospice.  The prizes included a trip to the Valtra factory in Finland, A VIP JCB tour for four people, a digger hire for one week, a one week hire of a Valtra T174A and a 500 hour service for any JCB loadall – not bad prizes though we say so ourselves!

So, once again, a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years and we look forward to celebrating the next milestone with you!