Marlborough farming museum boasts 5 hectares of vintage farm machinery

Visitors can see a McLaren steam roller in action at the Marlborough farming museum.

Kem Ormond is on the trail again to find more exciting tractor and vintage machinery museums that are scattered around New Zealand.

Sunny Blenheim is the next stop and here you will find the Marlborough Vintage and Farm Machinery Society or as some call it, the Marlborough farming museum, occupying 5ha at the Brayshaw Heritage Park.

Here you can view one of the largest displays of vintage farm machinery in the Southern Hemisphere.

With more than 80 members, the museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-3pm.

The museum is run by volunteers, some retired and some not, including farmers, engineers, academics, boiler-makers, fitters and turners, and auto electricians, just to name a few.

All are skilled and practical in their own field and while the men get down and greasy with the machinery, the women volunteers keep the pioneer cottage tidy.

The park site has over 20 sheds, some of which are still original.

These sheds have an amazing array of farm machinery - including horse-drawn equipment, tractors, stationary engines - and a vast collection of farming and local memorabilia, most having come from the Marlborough region.

The geographical isolation of New Zealand meant a lot of machinery avoided being melted down for the war effort.

Instead, they were just parked up under a tree and our often-dry climate helped with the machine’s preservation.

You will feel like you are stepping back in time when you visit this museum, not only because of the age of many of the collections, but because you get to see and experience what life was like for some of the pioneering families that came to the area, the conditions they lived in, and how they managed to make a living and provide for their family.

The oldest portable Ransomes and Sims steam engine in the world is at the Marlborough Vintage Tractor Museum.

In the 1960s, Norman Brayshaw, who was a visionary, started collecting and documenting Marlborough’s past and securing unused land from the council to form the basis of today’s park.

Brayshaw Heritage Park was officially opened in 1971, by Bill Chisholm, who was at the time manager of Molesworth Station, from where some of the vintage machinery came.

The park has become a major attraction, not only for New Zealanders but overseas visitors.

There is a lot of history wrapped up in one location, with other various clubs such as the Marlborough Associated Modellers’ Society, the local branch of the Vintage Car Club, and the Marlborough Historical Society, based at the park.

One of the exhibits that has taken a lot of hard work (check out the photos on their website) is the 1880 restored and furnished cottage.

The restored pioneer cottage had a surprise under the rusty iron roof, the original shingles.

It took a lot of vision to restore the cottage when it was found. One of the most amazing discoveries was the original shingle roof, under the dilapidated iron one.

All going well, in years to come that little cottage will be joined by a working cowshed and woolshed.

When asked what was considered one of the most popular exhibits at the museum the Marlborough engine took the top spot, mainly because of all its beautiful brass work.

This Jelbart tractor, 1924 approximately, is the only one in the world

This museum has some rare machines: such as the first self-propelled Blackstone oil engine built by Andrews and Beaven in Christchurch; the oldest Ransomes and Sims steam engine on earth; fitch four drive, Mogul and Avery tractors; a fully restored McLaren steam roller; a working blacksmith’s shop, and traction engines.

The open day at the park allows you to see a lot of these beautifully restored machines in action and is a day not to be missed.

If you enjoy vintage machinery displays at its best, set aside a few hours to wander around the park, take a picnic lunch, and enjoy what started as one man’s vision.