An ancient ‘steam plough’ with links to the Devonshires was driven across the front of Chatsworth House last month.
The ‘Chief’, as the Victorian single-cylinder traction engine is known, has been lovingly restored by brothers Hal and Guy Debes. It dates from 1875 – and the 7th Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish, had shares in the engine, made by Fowler of Leeds.
Hal and Guy, who own Portobello Engineering, took over the Newton & Sons boiler makers in 2011 and run the business in the adjacent High Peak Works…