1954 Sankey Trailer Joins The Convoy
Since first buying The Series back in 2011 and discovering that she has military history, my aim has been to restore her to her former glory. This also includes ‘accumulating’ everything that she would have had or been involved with in her time on the RAF bases and this includes a Sankey trailer!
Sankey trailers were a common sight within the military, used as basic trailers for transporting various goods and people or becoming more specialised as ammunition or field kitchens. The engineering that has gone into their development is quite amazing. They use a large Nato eye that hooks into a Nato Hitch, this hitch and/or the eye rotate, this means that pretty much no matter the terrain, the trailer can achieve incredible angles from the towing vehicle, without causing the trailer to tip over, and if the trailer does go over, it won’t take the towing vehicle with it, nor is it likely to damage or twist the chassis! Now when you’re used to modern cars and trailers, this is really quite something to witness and feel.
Anyway, back in January 2023, a trailer came up on one of the various groups I follow. Now you will find various Sankey Trailers on the market, but VERY rarely will you come across one that has undergone a full nut/bolt restoration, with photographs and receipts AND in RAF Military Spec! This unicorn came up onto the market. Now at this time, I was away working overseas and thought, ‘Bugger, I’m not back till June/July… And this is EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for, but the listing say that they want it shifted, surely they won’t hold on to it till I get back… ’, and of course being of the mindset that you never know unless you ask… A phone call was made, through several time zones, to speak to Jeremy the seller, a lovely chap based down in Ross-on-Wye; whom (with his wife) has a bit of a hobby involving Austin Champs, vintage military bikes plus modern ones and needing more space in his garage. Going on my word that I would buy it when I was back, he kindly said that he would keep it safe and sound till that day, and true to his word he did! Now in a world of tyre kickers, time wasters and general let-downers, it was refreshing to know that a gentlemans verbal agreement still exists.
So 10 hours, a few pit stops and almost 400 miles later, the Sankey Trailer made it from Ross-on-Wye, Hertfordshire back to Norwich, Norfolk; via Tetbury, Gloucestershire, Walton-on-thames, London and Newmarket, Cambridgeshire. She towed beautifully, although I could only go 50mph the whole way as I didn’t have enough weight in her to stop the bounce.
