Date:1930 - 1950 (c.)
Description:The Triumph Potato Digger, manufactured by Bamfords of Uttoxeter, was an improved version of the potato spinner. The potato spinner damaged many of the potatoes it was lifting. The Triumph was much more efficient and became a very popular product - many were exported to Eastern Europe. The horse-drawn version made potato harvesting around a third cheaper than employing manual labour. This is a tractor-drawn model, dating from the mid-20th century, and was used at Rodbaston Farm Institute, near Penkridge. It works by flicking the potatoes out of the soil ridges in which they grow. They were then picked up by hand. Length 2830mm. The story of Bamfords Ltd. starts in 1871, when the company was founded by Henry Bamford and his son, Samuel. The Leighton foundry was set up in Uttoxeter to enable them to make their own castings. The Bamford range included oil cake mills, sheep racks, horse gears, haymakers, milk carriages and horse rakes. By 1881 they had expaned their business further to include lift pumps and a great range of agricultural machinery. Henry Bamford & Sons became a limited company in 1916 and were internationally renowned for the quality of their castings. Bamfords Ltd. finally closed in 1987. Bamfords is the ancestor company of JCB. This object is now part of the Staffordshire County Museum collection, and was restored in 2007 with the assistance of MLA West Midlands' Supporting Stewardship grant.
The timeline shows resources around this location over a number of years.
Henry Ward (born 1829), his wife Jane and their family on the steps of Rodbaston ...
The late-Victorian Drawing Room of Rodbaston Hall while it was owned by the family ...
The College Principal at the time of this photograph was Dr. G.H. Bates. Rodbaston ...
Rodbaston Hall was built for William Holland by 1834. In 1854 the Holland family ...
Rodbaston College's origins lie in 1919 when the War Agricultural Committee opened ...
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The Triumph Potato Digger, manufactured by Bamfords of Uttoxeter, was an improved version of the potato ...
A closer view of the spinning mechanism of a Bamfords Triumph Potato Digger.
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Donor ref:68.076.0001 (37/21539)
Source: Staffordshire Museum Service
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