Once owned J Fulton & Son; also Bruce Rowbotham, Haxby, YORK. Rebuilt from dismantled October 92. Engine was 111703499. Later owned by Mike Wallis, Wakefield.
Mike Wallis wrote (06/01):
"'Beatrice' is still a green soft-top, with the old 2 litre petrol engine. From what I can discover of her past she was also owned by Bradford Hospitals who used her as a snow plough for several years - she still has the brackets welded to her chassis.She went from there to Land Rover agents Simmonites of Bradford. They presumably took her in part exchange for the Series 3 LWB truck cab that replaced her. As I used to work for Bradford Hospitals this was easy to find out, but just why she was registered to Simmonites remains a mistery. I have owned her for about 18months. Slowly replacing parts with originals as I can find them."
In 02/04 Mike regrettably decided that he had 'run out of time' for the necessary refurbishment, and offered the vehicle for sale on eBay. Commendably, he rejected any potential buyers who only seemed interested in obtaining the registration number (and maybe scrapping a restorable Series 1), and closed the auction early in order to sell to an established Defender-owning couple who were very keen to buy a vehicle that was the same age as they were!
In the course of advertising 822 on eBay, Mike posted the following information:
Beatrice" is an ex Civil Defence Corps, 88inch Series One Land Rover. About 99% original. She has split rim road wheels but the spare is a later and much lighter, solid wheel, which you will appeciate when lifting the bonnet! She still has the original Smith's round heater with the control valve in the engine bay. Engine is the 2 litre petrol (OHV inlet and side valve exhaust). She was bought as a running restoration project but a plug wetting habit caused her to miss an MoT test. After a head rebuild and a brand new OE Solex carburettor, I was told that it was probably a worn distributor that was the problem and rebushing or a Sparkrite ignition box would cure it! The usual lack of time excuse forces me to sell her. Recent new brake shoes and two new drums. Some documentation and spares, including rear bench seats. I'll even throw in some huge axle stands.
On 22-Feb-04 at 10:34:17 GMT, he added...:
In view of so many of you asking about the condition of the chassis and bulkhead: She had a bare chassis restoration done in the late seventies. I have various photographs of the process, which were passed on when I bought her. Clearly the main cross member was out, as there is a shot of it and the transfer box sat on the garage floor. There are some very dark shots of an angle grinder at work on the chassis. I interpret them to work being done on the out-riggers. Whether or not these were actually replaced I cannot be too sure. The last twenty years have rendered the under sides with a fairly "homogenous patina", so I can't say if they were new. Work was clearly done on the bulkhead as photographs show some re-skinning having taken place. The worst bit of the bulkhead is probably the very top rail where the windscreen seal sits.
On 22-Feb-04 at 11:40:09 GMT...:
There is a huge box of receipts relating to Beatrice and her past. I have just been going through them and found one from Craddocks in Staffordshire, for five brand new out-rigger brackets and a rear cross-memmber. This was dated November 1992. Also I was wrong about the age. She's actually 1957. not '58