Classic Tractor Tales: Le Taillanderie - Greenmount Press

CLASSIC TRACTOR TALESLa TaillanderieBy Ian M. JohnstonThe ancient tiny French village of Nanssous-Sainte-Annedoes not appear inglossy tourist brochures. Its name wouldbe unlikely to strike a chord with any Australiantravel agent. Yet this is a place ofgreat character and enchantment. It is alsothe location of a wondrous manifestationof the power of nature. It was to this placethat Margery and I journeyed in April ofthis year (2008).SCHLUMPFHaving spent a glorious week in theCzech Republic discovering the magic ofPrague and exploring the Bohemian countrysidewith its fairytale but often grim castles,it was time to move on. We pointedthe nose of our diesel powered stationwagon west and high tailed it across Czechand through the wide open frontier-crossinginto Germany.There was little evidence of Spring.Rain pelted down as we hammered acrossGermany on the A8 autobahn, makingvain attempts to avoid the dense plumes ofspray thrown up from the endless columnsof trucks. Approaching Heidelberg we selectedthe ausfart onto the southboundA5 autobahn leading to Switzerland. Justnorth of Basel there is an exit which headswest and took us across the Rhine intoFrance. France was our objective, but havingtravelled around 800 kilometres therewas a pressing need to find a bed for thenight.The Alsace provincial town of Mulhouselies only a short distance from the east westA36 French autoroute. Darkness was descendingand the rain still falling heavily aswe pulled into the courtyard of the HotelIbis. And then my brain clicked into gear!Mulhouse is the location of the internationallyfamous Schrumpf Auto Museum!Blue skies greeted us the next morning.It was a unanimous decision to factor inan unscheduled visit to the Schlumpf Museum,where we spent two blissful hoursdrooling over the world’s largest collectionof historic exotic automobiles. It really requiresa couple of days to do justice to thecollection, but the ever attentive Margerydragged me from my approbations andrushed us out of the place, with a reminderthat we still had some way to go to wherewe had rented a cottage for a week. It wastime to rejoin the autoroute.The undoubted highlight of the Schlumpf Museum is this magnificent Bugatti RoyaleRoadster. It is the only roadster ever mounted on the massive 6.4 metre Royale chassisand was custom built for King Alfonso of Spain in the early 1930s. It weighs anastonishing 3.175 tonnes and is propelled by an advanced design 12,763 cc straighteight cylinder engine, featuring an overhead cam, three valves per cylinder, nine mainbearings and enough torque to power the QEII. Its immense size is evident when scaledagainst Margery, who can be seen inspecting the luxurious white leather upholstery ofthe dickie seat. (Photo IMJ)We left the busy Mulhouse to Dijonmulti-lane autoroute a few kilometreswest of Besançon and headed south intothe remote mountainous region of Doubsand Jura. Our route meandered throughpicturesque fertile valleys until the sceneryabruptly changed. Now we were negotiatingnarrow climbing roads carved into thesides of cliffs, where an error of drivingjudgement would surely result in the vehicleplunging down into a seriously scarydeep ravine.Eventually we commenced a long windingdescent through breathtakingly beautifulforest clad hills until we arrived at ourdestination — the village of Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne.NANSThe village is little more than a hamlet,bisected by the rushing Lison river. Thepopulation of a mere 120 permanentresidents reside in colourful leaning stonedwellings, which are scattered in clumpsradiating out from the ancient church, thefocal point of the village. The sole shopsells a tempting range of exquisite cheesesmanufactured and aged on the premises.Every morning promptly at nine o’clockLa Dame de la Boulangerie arrives inher van from the nearby town of Salinsles-Bains,announced by the repeatedsounding of her vehicle’s horn. The villagewomen appear carrying wicker basketsand cluster round the van to receive theirloaves of still warm baguettes.Each Friday the butcher, also fromSalins-les-Bains, parks his van in thesquare and displays tempting cuts of pork,venison, beef and goat, plus an array oflocal smoked gammons and hams.There is no Gendarmerie in the village.Neither is there a post office, bank or evenan ATM. In other words, this tiny peacefulvillage, hidden away deep in the Juramountains, is a sanctuary far from the dubious‘blessings’ of Twenty First Centurylifestyles.But Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne has not alwaysbeen a haven of such tranquillity!In the early 1800s the silence of the valleywas rudely disturbed by the pounding ofgiant hammers, the sound of which reverberatedoff the surrounding escarpmentsand on a still day could be heard echoing46 — THE AUSTRALIAN COTTONGROWER AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2008

Few vehicles pass along the winding road which meandersthrough the village of Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne. One is more likelyto encounter a tractor than a car. (Photo IMJ)from one valley to the next. A manufacturingindustry of significant importanceto French farmers had commenced in thevillage and was to continue uninterrupteduntil 1969.The history of this industry was thelure which had enticed us to the village ofNans-sous-Saint-Anne.LE LISONIt was Tuesday morning. We had hastenedto the bread van, attached ourselvesto the queue of the local wives with theirbaskets and obtained our metre long crustybaguette. Despite having breakfasted earlierwe could not resist breaking off a coupleof large chunks and smothering themwith fresh village butter and a healthy sliceof local four year old ham cured cheese.Un repas très bien!Appropriately fortified and wearingstout shoes, we left our cottage and followeda walking trail alongside the swiftlyflowing Lison river, which led to the headof a deep gorge. Here we were confrontedby a truly amazing phenomenon of nature— the source of the Lison river.There is considerable speculation amonggeologists exactly where the Lison has itscreation. But certainly it is likely to bedeep below the forested Doubs mountainsmany kilometres underground from whereit surfaces, on the outskirts of Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne. So the term ‘source’ actuallydescribes the cavern through which itveritably explodes from the sheer rock faceinto the valley.This is no gentle trickle or even a chucklingbrook. It is a gigantic outpouring whichinstantly becomes the swiftly flowing tumultuousLison river of considerable depth anda breadth of around thirty metres. It surgesthrough the centre of the village, containedbetween grassy banks and bridged by agraceful three arched medieval pont. Inseveral places the river bursts into lesserbut rapidly flowing streams, before curvingback and rejoining the main flow.Two centuries ago, one of these breakawaystreams was channelled into a shortPictured is the canal tributary, excavated 200 years ago, whichpasses under La Taillanderie and provides power to the giantwater wheels within the factory. (Photo IMJ)canal and directed to a flat area whereArsène Lagrange, an engineer of greatvision, harnessed the hydraulic energy topower his newly constructed edge tool factory— La Taillanderie. Which raises thequestion — what is an edge tool?Possibly the very first agricultural tooldevised by man was a form of large curvedsharp instrument with which he could cutswathes of grass and straw. Eventually ironreplaced stone and gave birth to the sickleand scythe.Without doubt these cutting, or ‘edge’tools, were for centuries the most importantimplements on any farm. But until thedawning of the 19th century brought abetter understanding of metallurgy, theseimplements were crude and prone to shatteringand easily blunted.Lagrange’s new factory required a greatamount and continuity of energy to driveits massive 250 kg tilt hammers. Thesewere the hammers, striking 150 timeseach minute, that shattered the silence of…48sThe village is bisected by the rushing Lison river which is bridgedby this grand Medieval three arched stone structure. (Photo IMJ)A spectacular phenomenon of nature. The Lison river is createddeep below the surface within the Doubs Mountains and burstsforce from this subterranean cavern in a dramatic fashion. Photoshows Ian perching precariously on a rock at the side of theswiftly flowing newly born river. (Photo Margery Daw)AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2008 THE AUSTRALIAN COTTONGROWER — 47

Clearly illustrated are the two water wheels. A closer scrutiny tothe left of the controller is one of the iron clad wheels with thesteel cams, which actuate the hammer (to the controller’s right) at150 strokes per minute. (Photo IMJThe finished article. A beautifully crafted razor sharp scytheblade. Various shapes of blades are displayed on the rack behind.(Photo IMJ)w47…CLASSIC TRACTORSthe village and the surrounding countryside and could be heard over a radius of10 kilometres!THE MAKING OF A SCYTHEThe technique introduced by Lagrange,represented a giant leap forward from thetraditional method of making edge toolswhich used only a blacksmith’s forge andan anvil.A slug of steel 20 cm in length washeated to red hot in the furnaces adjacentto the tilt hammers. A stretching hammerwas then used to lengthen the steel ingotinto the first scythe blank, a sabre shapedpiece with the handle curved at 60°. Thisblank was passed on to the planisher who,using a planishing tilt hammer weighing150 kg, would progressively fashion thesabre into a scythe blade, reheating it eighttimes.The tilt hammers were driven by bucketwheels measuring five metres diameterand 1.2 metres wide, propelled by the flowof water from the surging Lison tributary.The wheels turned on massive oak axlescomprising of whole tree trunks bandedwith cast iron rings. The rings had 24 steelcams, each of which would make the hammerstrike as it passed over the tip of thehammer stem.The art of planishing required a greatdeal of manual precision and consisted ofholding the blank in forge tongues and lettingthe hammer smash it down to paperthin without breaking through. It requiredenormous skill. Just two successive strikesin the same place would break through themetal and the piece would have to be sentback to the foundry. Only master smiths,who had served their trade guild apprenticeshipsof 15 years were given the responsibilityof planishing.The upper part of the scythe, whichprovides the necessary tension and rigidity,was shaped into a curve over an anvilusing a special metal bar. The final shapeof the tool was achieved using an ingeniouspair of shears with only one curvedhandle. A rope connected this handle toan ash timber branch mounted on the ceiling,which acted as a return spring. Theshears therefore were always open. Theoperator would bounce on the handlecausing the shears to operate in the mannerof a see-saw.The crucial step of hardening was accomplishedby heating the scythe to acherry-red 800°C and plunging it intoa bath of ox fat. This produced a gentlehardening, as opposed to water hardeningwhich would cause the metal to becomebrittle.Over the years the factory changedhands several times, but remained in productionuntil 1969. Its zenith period wasbetween 1890 and 1914, when 25 employeeschurned out 35,000 tools perannum, amounting to five per cent of thetotal French production.Remarkably the machinery has beenmaintained in perfect working order andis occasionally demonstrated to interestedhistorians, such as myself. Indeed I am indebtedto the enthusiastic young Frenchman— Sylvain Debray — who is one ofthe keepers of this Classée MonumentHistorique, for cranking up the spectacularold water powered machinery for ourconsiderable enlightenment.Then it was again time to move on.We had enjoyed the magic of Nous sous-Sainte-Anne and the surrounding countrysidefor a week. We now headed for theArdenne Forest of Belgium, where we hadanother cottage booked for a week andwhere other historic places awaited ourcontemplation.Ian’s MysteryTractor QUIZQuestion. Can you identify MickDrew’s handsome looking Britishcrawler. And if so are you aware of thetwo main but totally different enginetypes with which is could be equipped?Clue. Note the twin exhaust pipes andthe tantalising glimpse of the engine.Degree of Difficulty. In order to getboth parts of the question correct youwill have to be a genius – like me! (Onlykidding).Answer. See page 5648 — THE AUSTRALIAN COTTONGROWER AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2008