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March 2001
Finding a parking
space in the local supermarket will no longer be a problem for the owner
of one of Kent's top visitor attractions.
In a classic case
of 'if you can't beat 'em join 'em' Fiona Pollard, 35, owner of the Hop
Farm Country Park, Beltring, who spends each summer surrounded by armoured
vehicles when the venue hosts the KM Group sponsored KM War & Peace
Show - the world's biggest peacetime gathering of military vehicles -
has bought her own tank.
Fiona, who is a full-time
mother of three in addition to running the Hop Farm Country Park with
husband Brent, paid £10,000 for the ex-British Army Abbott tank,
which was brought up to roadworthy condition by Rex Cadman, War &
Peace Show Organiser for the Invicta Military Vehicle Preservation Society.
Fiona Pollard said:
"Military vehicles are always seen as 'big boy's toys', but the KM
War & Peace Show has a very large female following. Every year we
have a number of women military vehicle enthusiasts who bring their own
tanks, trucks and Jeeps to the Show. I have long admired the way they
can handle 20 tonnes or more of armour plate - and at this year's Show
I'll be joining them."
A professional tank
driving instructor is now giving Fiona lessons in how to manage the 20
tonne metal monster - which consumes a bank-breaking gallon of diesel
every three miles - in time for July's KM War & Peace Show.
Fiona Pollard added:
"I have started weight-training to develop the muscles I need to
be able to steer the Abbott - there is no steering wheel, driving is done
through a series of levers and foot pedals. I can't imagine there are
many vehicles on the road today which would argue with the Abbott so I
don't think parking will ever be a problem for me again!"
To military vehicle
purists the Abbott, which would have had a crew of four and boasts a top
speed of 30mph, is not really a tank - rather it is a self propelled gun;
a mobile 105mm calibre artillery cannon on tracks.
The KM War &
Peace Show, which features more than 3,000 military vehicles from World
War One to the present day, will be held from 18-22 July. For ticket information
contact the Hop Farm Country Park on 01622 872068
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