Fabulous Fordsons: Rupanyup museum keeps rural history alive

A massive fleet of 100-year-old Fordson tractors is just the start of Woods’ Farming and Heritage Museum’s historic collection, which volunteers have turned into a Wimmera tourist destination.

Rupanyup volunteers Adrian Tyler and Lynette Teasdale with a Fordson 1918 tractor, the oldest model in Woods’ Farming and Heritage Museum. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Adrian Tyler and Lynette Teasdale are nominees in The Weekly Times Heart Volunteer Awards, supported by the Powercor Country Festival. Nominate a rural volunteer and learn more about the awards here.

WOODS’ Farming and Heritage Museum at Rupanyup is a hidden gem, and so is the team of volunteers who run it.

On the outskirts of the Wimmera town hides a massive display of vintage Fordson tractors, farming tools, clothing, toys, machines, metal tins and collectables from 19th and 20th-century rural Australia.

Amassed by local brothers Michael and late John Woods, the collection is open to the public and run by 30 dedicated volunteers, including Adrian Tyler and Lynette Teasdale.

Adrian owns Rupanyup’s rural supplies store and has been active in community groups for the past 40 years.

Involved in Landcare, the footy club and development of the town’s men’s shed, Adrian said turning the Woods family’s collection into a tourism destination was one of his most gratifying projects.

“The museum is a success story in the town at the moment,” Adrian said. While Adrian helps as part of the museum’s “friends group”, Lynette coordinates a roster of locals to man the museum and be guides.

“This requires a huge commitment from a lot of people,” Lynette said. “We need a minimum of nine volunteers a week, which takes a bit of juggling.”

She said Adrian had been instrumental in getting the museum off the ground.

“He’s often the one applying for grants and liaising with the shire to gain permits,” she said, “as well as doing most of the outside maintenance.”

She said all the town’s volunteers played a crucial role in making Rupanyup a vibrant place.

“Rupanyup is an awesome little town,” she said. “It is vital that we all do whatever we can to make our community the best it can be.”

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