All aboard for a trip down memory lane

Pontins at Hemsby's Noddy train was a highlight of many family holidays. Derek James tracks it down.

All aboard for a magical journey down memory lane...on the Noddy train which used to carry holidaymakers around Pontin's Holiday Village at Hemsby.

The dear little train, which was a highlight of family holidays at the popular village, had been left to rot until Trevor Alexander turned up to restore it to its former glory.

His hobby is restoring unusual Ferguson tractors, which is what lies beneath the train body.

It has taken him nearly two years and cost a small fortune to restore and renovate the train and now he is also hoping to buy the old carriages.

The train is now stationed at Beamish in County Durham

'The Ferguson tractor on which the train is built was made on November 9, 1949, and it worked away as a tractor for many years,' said Trevor.

'In the early 1970s Pontins had the idea of taking holidaymakers around their camps with something a little different and as far as I can gather a man named Pete Welch was given the task of finding 12 Ferguson farm tractors to be converted.'

They were fitted out at Chichester and then KPO worked at Brean Sands before arriving in Hemsby.

When Pontins were finished with it, it was sold to the Round Table in Chichester who then used it for a few years before it was sold to a collector.

Eventually it came up on Ebay and this gave Trevor the opportunity to buy it and renovate it. It is now a star attraction at tractor shows. 'Not only with Ferguson collectors but it also brings a smile to the faces of people young and old.'