The David Brown Tractor is is usually on display in the Farmyard. However if you arrive on a wet day and wish to see her we will be delighted to bring her out for your inspection!

• Since the mid 1800's mechanical power has formed an ever increasing part of the farm scene. The buildings at Glyn-Coch illustrate this with the old stone cow shed designed for hand milking, and the more modern milking parlour designed for milking by machine. It is the advance of mechanical power that makes the old utilitarian three legged milking stool into a much desired craft item. Agonising hours spent hand milking is now thought of with a feeling nostalgia not usually felt by those who were paid to do it!

• The same pattern applies to farm machinery. Tractors, which until recently were thought of simply as tools to do a job are increasingly becoming collectors' items, and our three old tractors are no exception. When looking at them you can marvel at the use of brass and cast iron, where nowadays plastic and steel are the norm, or you can sympathise with the drivers of four decades ago who went without luxury cabs and power steering. And while looking, think of the relatively new skills in manufacture or farm work that are fast disappearing.

• The tractor we have on display at the moment is a David Brown 2D light agricultural tractor built in 1958. It was one of the first to carry implements between the axles and in front of the driver. As such it has been called the ' Father of the Systems Tractor'. This design meant that the tractor was ideal for precision weeding operations, where hoes have to be steered between several rows of high value crop. The need for this type of operation was almost eliminated by the development of safe and effective weedkillers, but is in demand now for salad vegetables and on organic farms. Most modern 'Systems Tractors' are 10 times as powerful as the David Brown 2D.

• Modern 'Systems Tractors' retain the same basic layout as the David Brown 2D, and many (for example the powerful Fendt models and the much smaller EvenProducts) retain the light weight air cooled engines, which can be mounted behind the back axle without reducing stability.The David Brown, however, has a pneumatic implement lift while larger modern machines have hydraulic lifts, and smaller ones have electric lifts.

• Our David Brown was acquired by Scientists at Rothamsted Experimental Station in Hertfordshire in the 1970's. They used it to study the biology of eelworms, microscopic roundworms that can be severe pests of crops. At first it was used to sterilise soil so that particular species could be added back and studied in the absence of the wild fauna. Later it was used to develop more precise chemical methods of eelworm control, and most recently integrated methods of control with minimal use of chemicals. The light weight of this machine means that it has been possible to transport it all over the country. This is important for eelworm research as there are many species and strains of species and each region has its own fauna.