Dirty and Dusty at Dunsfold
IT is, by anybody’s estimation, a big job. Perhaps not quite as big as HS2, but sometimes it feels like it. Moving six tonnes of workshop manuals, parts books, handbooks, instruction manuals, and military Land Rover documents of every conceivable type and for just about every model. There are 40 four-drawer filing cabinets full of brochures, press packs, photographs and Land Rover paraphernalia dating back to 1948; 200 feet of shelving containing full sets of LRM as well as LRO, and the now defunct Land Rover World and Land Rover enthusiast magazines, plus the granddaddy of them all, Overlander. Many others, too, as well as an extensive library of books on every aspect of Land Rover history and off-roading generally. And that’s just to relocate the Dunsfold archive. Everything needs to be manually moved, sorted, cleaned and filed. It’s hot and dusty work and we deliberately left it until the cooler weather set in.
Too big a job for one man, no matter how dedicated he is. Which is why I have been organising working parties of volunteers to spend a day or few helping Philip Bashall get the job done. It is, of course, just one part of the huge and complex project to transform the premises that until a year ago housed the Dunsfold DLR Ltd parts and servicing business.
What was an old-school service workshop with a vast Land Rover parts storage facility and a global mail order business, is gradually being transformed into a building that will allow the Dunsfold Collection to re-house and catalogue its archive and display its Land Rovers, and for the first time allow enthusiasts and clubs to come to see the vehicles.
The Collection is a project very dear to my heart which I have been heavily involved with for nearly ten years. I have huge respect for the pioneering Land Rover conservation and preservation work of the Bashall family that goes back to the 1960s. It was groundbreaking stuff, because back then no one else was really bothering to save historically important vehicles and other material at scale. Even Land Rover itself did not have a dedicated heritage organisation. Without the enthusiasm and dedication of the Bashalls, a great deal of Land Rover history would have been lost to the crusher and the skip. We have a lot to be thankful to them for, and it is very easy to take it all for granted.
So far, there have been four working party days dedicated to moving the treasures in the archive from an overcrowded upstairs storeroom down to a newly dedicated space, while at the same time sorting everything into a brand new filing system. It means that, for the first time, the Collection will not only know what it’s got, but will know where it is and how to find it again! I think another half-dozen working parties should see the task more or less completed, and the upstairs room can then be converted into a storage area for parts that are being set aside to keep Collection vehicles running for years to come.
Relocating the archive is on the critical path because the pile of parts that the Collection needs to keep is now getting in the way of an even bigger part of the overall project: the disposal of the vast DLR parts repository, which must be one of the biggest in the world. This is a job that no one can really help Philip with, because he is the only person who knows where everything is and how it needs to be gathered together and turned into auction lots.
By the time you read these words, over 250 lots comprising tens of thousands of individual parts will have been picked, packed, catalogued, posted online and sold. Philip reckons there will be something like 400 more lots before the building is empty, so the auctions are going to continue for another 12 to 18 months.
By careful planning Philip expects to be able to clear half of the building of stock by early in the New Year, and this can then be deep-cleaned and undergo preparation for use as a display area. This will involve a great deal of construction work of one kind or another, including rewiring and the installation of new lighting, as well as more significant things like roof repairs, insulation and cladding. Mezzanine floors will need to be removed as well as miles of industrial racking. The good news is that Philip thinks it should be possible to have vehicles on display for visitors to see by early summer, and I’ll keep you posted on progress.
LRM readers can help, and the Collection would really appreciate your assistance. You can become a Friend of the Collection or make a donation by visiting the Dunsfold Collection website. You can also sign up to Amazon Smile or Easyfundraising.com and select the Collection as your preferred charity. Every time you shop with Amazon Smile or any of hundreds of participating retailers, a donation will be made to the Collection that won’t cost you a penny. If you think you’d like to get involved in the working parties or in other ways, do get in touch via the LRM editorial office. It’s your opportunity to help the UK’S largest and most significant Land Rover collection achieve a major step forward in its ambition to have a dedicated Land Rover museum facility.
“Without the enthusiasm and dedication of the Bashalls, a great deal of Land Rover history would have been lost to the crusher and the skip”