‘Mr Fixit’ – Geoff Peach dies at 64

21 January 2010
THE MIDLANDS traction engine movement was shocked at the passing of Geoff Peach on 2 December at the age of 64 after a short illness. Geoff will be remembered in recent years for the restoration and rallying of Sentinel S4 waggon No 9192 of 1935, which in addition to regular Midlands appearances also attended the Great Dorset Steam Fair in 2008 as part of the 40th Anniversary Special Display.

As a child, Geoff tinkered with all things mechanical, starting with karts made from obsolete prams, moving up to old cars even before he was of a legal age to drive on the road, the interest in classic cars continuing throughout his life.

In his late teens, Geoff began a passion for water sports, beginning with snorkelling, progessing to skuba diving, water skiing, and windsurfing. Never one to stand still, Geoff moved forward into flying, gaining his private pilot's licence and together with brother Roger, owned and flew light aircraft as a hobby.

The interest in model engineering had begun in his early twenties, and as a member of the Birmingham Society of Model Engineers, he built his first steam locomotive, Rob Roy, to be followed by two further locomotives; and in 2008 Geoff completed a 41⁄2in Burrell traction engine.

Already an accomplished model steam engineer, the move to his great and lasting love affair with full-size steam came in 1986, when Geoff purchased Aveling & Porter 8-ton roller No 8752, followed in 1988 by the purchase of Aveling & Porter roller No 8983, which Geoff rebuilt over three years.

In 1995 came his greatest love, 1908 Marshall traction engine No 51025 Margaret, which was extensively roaded complete with living van (yet another of Geoff’s restoration projects) to rallies in the West Midlands.

In 1988 another three-year restoration project began with the purchase of the Sentinel, which in 2002 completed the Horseshoe Pass Run, much to Geoff’s delight. Apart from his engineering prowess, Geoff also ‘trod the boards’ in a number of stage productions with Coleshill Operatic Society. The funeral took place on 10 December at St John Baptist Church in Berkswell. A mammoth effort by family and friends ensured that the Sentinel was steamed, honouring Geoff’s last wish; that he be taken to the church on the Sentinel. A packed congregation heard many fitting tributes to ‘Mr Fixit’ Geoff Peach from family and friends. Geoff leaves wife Pauline, son Martin, daughter Angela and five grandchildren.

Paul Stratford

Quo Vadis leads Michael Oliver’s final journey

21 January 2010
A PREVAILING drizzle did not stop hundreds from witnessing the final journey of Michael Frederick Oliver MBE – founder and director of the Great Dorset Steam Fair – through his home village of Child Okeford, Dorset, as the cortege made its solemn journey from the sports ground to St Nicholas Church for the funeral service on 15 December.

Led by Johnny ‘Crowman’ Miles with red flag, ‘GDSF mascot engine’ – Burrell showman’s road locomotive No 3938 of 1922 Quo Vadis – followed by Michael’s familiar Cherokee Jeep and his organ truck, led the cortege to a spot outside the church whereupon arrival the procession paused to hear the strains of the benedictory hymn God Be With You Till We Meet Again played by Alan Couldwell’s 110-key Marenghi Scenic Organ The Rose – another favourite exhibit of Michael’s and which had travelled down from Killamarsh, Sheffield, especially for the occasion.

The church was full to capacity, with the service relayed to those standing under their umbrellas in the churchyard. NTET chairman Robert Herring and Michael’s son Martin led the tributes. Robert spoke of ‘a master showman who would find any opportunity of gaining publicity for his show, of a unique character who sometimes collected criticism but was not bothered about it, a countryman through and through with a wealth of stories to tell, a man with the power of persuasion to enlarge the show and yet a gentlemen – one who once found clean clothes and money for a new suit for a poor unfortunate fellow who had been occupying a portable toilet when it was overturned by revellers’. He spoke of Michael ‘setting the scene for Great Dorset, which is the number one event in the calendar for bringing us all together and of being a great ambassador for the steam world’.

Among the hymns sung was the popular Onward Christian Soldiers, the tune to which was composed by Sir Arthur Sullivan while staying near Child Okeford – and it was given its first public performance in Child Okeford church!

Martin Oliver later paid tribute to the show office staff for helping with the funeral arrangements, and to Quo Vadis, Alan Couldwell and Robert Herring for their part. “We caused something of a tailback in the village, something Dad had caused many a time outside the showground,” he mused. Continuing the theme of Michael’s powers of persuasion, Martin recalled his dad telling him of how, at the first Stourpaine show, he had wondered how he would get three large fairground rides to come to a Dorset field in the middle of nowhere. In the event he had got them all to come by phoning them individually to say that the others were coming! Martin then called upon an old friend of his dad’s who regaled the congregation of stories of how Michael managed to get them a meal in an inn when they had little money and how they’d managed to collect a military truck from Bayeux, France, and to get it into the UK without customs papers or an import licence… as usual it was Michael talking his way out of a situation!

Following interment in the churchyard, refreshments were available in a specially erected marquee at the sports ground, where a pint or two was quaffed to the memory of the man that WAS the Great Dorset Steam Fair.
(Michael Oliver, a tribute, see last issue).

Farewell to Joe Powell

21 January 2010
TRIBUTES have been paid to early preservationist Joseph Powell, of Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, who died at Cheltenham General Hospital on 27 December aged 88. He had run a steam railway at Ashton Keynes for many years before closing it in 2000 and was one of the founders of the Fairford rally, never missing a show.

Up until early 2001, he had a miniature railway in his garden which he would open to visitors with all proceeds going to charity.

Joseph was one of the early traction engine preservationists and bought his first engine in the early 1950s, an engine which was still in his ownership when
he died.

A past president of the Road Locomotive Society, in November 2009 he was made an honorary member of the National Traction Engine Trust. He was one of the first men to rebox an engine for preservation, having sent his Garrett back to Leiston for the work.

His son, Dr Jonathan Powell, described him as “one of the most famous people in the country in that area.”

Dr Powell said his father had been born into an Ashton Keynes family that had lived in the village for generations.

“His father was an agricultural engineer and as a young boy he built his own engine and he bought his own traction engine when he was just 19 or 20.”

His father had founded WJ Powell Ltd Engineering Works that Joseph later took on, employing a small number of workers. The business dealt with a variety of work including well-digging, erecting windpumps and installing gas producer plants. Joseph closed the business in 1987 when he retired.

Before he died, he was close to completing a long-term restoration on one of his pair of Garrett 4CD tractors, Lady Raglan.

The family wanted to have Lady Raglan in steam but the boiler inspector declared the engine unfit for service.

However, Lord Raglan was thoroughly inspected, including the use of an internal camera, and although some wastage above the firehole has been noted, the engine was given a 28-day ‘ticket’ with a reduced pressure of 120psi in order that it could take part in Joe’s funeral, which was held in Ashton Keynes on 8 January.

Ulster club donates to children’s ward

21 January 2010
THE Traction Engine Club of Ulster has raised over £60,000 for local charities over the past 10 years by organising a selection of events as diverse as tractor runs, the annual steam fair at Ballymena, fun nights for the family, selling fireside quizzes and even raffles.

Club members put in considerable effort to ensure that they can help make life a little more bearable for those who are suffering from the effects of an illness.

Each year the club nominates a deserving cause to benefit from their fund-raising efforts. This year the children’s ward of Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast, was nominated and staff there were recently delighted to welcome club representatives to the hospital to make their presentation.

Bertie Hamilton, chairperson, Traction Engine Club of Ulster, presented Sister Laurie Jones of the children’s ward with new TV/DVD combinations for each of the 19 beds on the ward, a selection of DVDs and a cheque for £1000. This money will go towards wheelchairs to aid mobility for some of the less able children.

The TECU would like to thank Asda in Ballyclare who supplied the televisions at a very competitive price and also donated a selection of DVDs. Thanks are also due to all those who supported the club events throughout the year and assisted in raising such a substantial amount of money.

The committee extend a warm invitation to all to join them in Ballymena showgrounds on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 July 2010 for their annual steam fair.

Chadwick’s stationary engines go under the hammer

21 January 2010
THE HJ Pugh sale of 5 December featured the largest one-man collection of stationary engines to be sold in the UK in recent times, reports Peter Love.

TG Chadwick had been a stationary engine enthusiast for several decades. However, this well-known Staffordshire-based collector decided he could no longer look after them and didn’t want to burden his family with the responsibility of disposing of them. So, HJ Pugh was instructed to dispose of them at its annual Christmas vintage auction, held at the Ledbury salerooms.

An excellent crowd attended with approximately 405 bidders registered. The engines were not perhaps in pristine condition, being older restorations or still in their original order. Some had the wrong magnetos on and by the looks of things they hadn’t run for a few years, but in most cases a winter’s work would see them all back together again.

A number of them were unusual to see coming up for sale in the UK, but are not rare as such.

Your correspondent’s favourite was without doubt the Abraham Zimmerman produced New Holland 1.5hp 9393, it looked gorgeous and so original! It was to be the ‘hot one’ on the day, selling for £2700. The Massey Harris selection was good here and the 4hp 4K1745 was more ‘together’ than most and sold for £1600. All in, the entire sale went well for those concerned and the Lister D prices were better than expected.

Rebuild under way for Shuttleworth’s 1900 Locomobile

21 January 2010
THE BEDFORDSHIRE-based Shuttleworth Collection’s 1900 Locomobile steam car is currently undergoing a rebuild after local enthusiast Stuart Gray volunteered to prepare its boiler for examination and to return it back to steamable condition.

Richard Shuttleworth obtained the vehicle in early 1930 and after an initial restoration by him, he participated in the famous London to Brighton run and continued to do so up until his untimely death in a flying accident in 1940. For many years after WWII, the car, registered FM 63, became a regular sight on the Brighton run.

The boiler had been out of ticket for two to three years and needed a full thorough examination and hydraulic test, which at the very least meant removing the boiler from the car.

Removing the boiler early in 2009 uncovered some additional problems; the wooden frame supporting the boiler was badly burnt away in places and needed replacement, which led to a full and excellent refurbishment of the wooden body in the collection’s own woodwork shop.

With the body needing a full repaint, the decision was taken to strip the whole car and turn a boiler inspection into a full and comprehensive overhaul and restoration. During dismantling, the opportunity was provided for the collection to learn more about the car and to establish that it is an early Style 2 car of 1900 and not as previously thought, 1901. The car has never had its date officially verified by the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain and maybe this is something the collection will now ask them to do. The car’s engine number is 1718. Normally the engine number would coincide with the car’s own number, but this car has engine number 4669, one of the later Locomobile engines and not uncommon for a car that has lasted so long.

Work is progressing well with the objective of having the car running in time for the 2010 ‘flying season’ at Shuttleworth.

Readers who visit the Bedfordshire Steam Engine Preservation Society’s rally at Old Warden will be able to see the Locomobile as part of the collection’s veteran vehicles over the weekend of the rally.

The Shuttleworth Collection is home to one of the world’s most important collection of early 20 century aircraft, founded by Richard Shuttleworth in the early 1930s when he inherited the Shuttleworth estate. In the early 20s and 30s when relatively few people had thought of obtaining early motor cars or aeroplanes, Richard Shuttleworth had the foresight and determination to obtain some worthwhile examples of both, however his ambition was not to build a museum but to make them all work and today his legacy lives on with most of the collection’s cars and aeroplanes being maintained in working condition.

* For further information on the car and the Shuttleworth Collection, visit www.shuttleworth.org

‘MR GREAT DORSET’ FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR MICHAEL OLIVER MBE DIES AT 75

17 December 2009
TRIBUTES have been flowing into the Great Dorset Steam Fair office at Child Okeford following the death of Fair founder Michael Oliver MBE on Sunday 29 November.

Michael was taken to the Dorset County Hospital at Dorchester on Friday 20 November suffering from respiratory problems. After a few days he made some progress but his condition deteriorated and he died at 7.10am on 29 November. His wife Jean, son Martin and daughter Sarah were with him.

Martin, who took over as managing director of the GDSF a few years ago, said: “This is the end of an era. Dad was a giant of the steam world, the like we will not see again. It was fortuitous that although quite ill he was able to spend some time at the 2009 fair among the engines and the people he loved. The very last photograph taken of him was with his lifelong friend John Paulley and 10-year-old Archie Fairclough, one of this year’s Great Dorset Steam Fair heroes.”

Born at Child Okeford into a dairy farming family that can trace its roots in the village to 1100 AD, Michael’s father Tom used steam for threshing as well as being known for his dairy and milk round.

Michael was always fascinated by steam and spent many hours down at nearby Shillingstone station watching the Somerset & Dorset line’s trains trundle past and the ‘Pines Express’ thunder through on its way to Bournemouth West from the Midlands, via Bath. Following closure of the much-loved line in March 1966, he vowed to preserve something of the age of steam.

In late July 1968, Michael, who would have been 76 on 7 January 2010, along with school friend John Garrett, pulled a 1930s Ransomes binder behind a pre-war David Brown tractor from Child Okeford to Shaftesbury, where they mowed a field of corn in the old-fashioned way.

Mike told the story: “Before we had gone a mile, a group of over 50 men, women and boys were trailing behind and followed us to the field. They stayed to watch us mow. I knew then that we were on to something; and that same autumn the idea for a Grand Steam Party was born, and the first one was held on a field in Shaftesbury, although the first real show was held a year later when that great old engine Quo Vadis was shown and later adopted as the fair’s mascot.”

The Dorset Steam & Historic Vehicle Club was founded through an interest in showing cine film of the old ‘Somerset & Dorset’ when Ted Hine thought that there was enough enthusiasm to form a club. Michael was the first vice-chairman, under the chairmanship of the late John Pocock.

Stories abound regarding the beginning and the success of this great fair; but suffice it to say that one man had the vision, one man had the energy and the wherewithal and one man created what is now the greatest annual steam show on earth.

In honour of his work in building the biggest show of its type in Europe, and by association the charitable causes it helped, Michael was awarded the MBE in 2004, followed by Michael and Jean being presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in June 2008 by the Transport Trust.

A tribute to Michael Oliver - Mike’s friend Brian Moore writes

THE RAIN lashed down, cars were buried in mud, children floundered and a barefooted lady walked past carrying a pair of high heels. Mike stopped her, invited her into his tent and offered her a hot coffee from his flask, a scene that I witnessed.

Mike asked: “Why the high heels? The lady said: “I thought it was going to clear up”

Mike replied: “It always rains at Stourpaine.”

“Nobody told me, but thanks for the coffee, I needed that.”

She stepped outside and continued on her walk round the steam fair because in spite of the atrocious conditions, she was where she wanted to be.

A few hours earlier on a cold wet Saturday morning, September 1972, the third anniversary of the show proper, I was standing with Mike on the old Stourpaine Bushes site as the rain drove in sideways, bolstered by a gale-force south westerly.

I said: “Mike, no one will come out in this weather, it’s going to be
a washout.”

Mike’s answer has gone down in steam rally history. Long before Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner, Mike said it: ‘The People Will Come’.

And they did in their thousands. Through the mud, the rain, the hail and the tempest that kept lesser mortals indoors, they came.

They came because they needed to be part of something greater than the present. They came because they needed the past, needed to be part of an age long gone. They came because their fathers and grandfathers had told them about the good old days on the land. And they came because one man had a vision of engines being shown doing the jobs that they were built for.

That year, over 10,000 visitors paid 10 shillings each to live Mike Oliver’s dream. Nearly 40 years later, September 2009, over 200,000 men, women and children from across the globe travelled to a few hundred acres at Tarrant Hinton at the behest of the greatest showman to ever bestride Dorset’s fields. That is and will for ever be the lasting legacy of Michael Oliver.

From 1969 to the Saturday morning of 28 November 2009, he and I were the best and closest of friends. We knew more about each other than is best to know and told no one of our secrets. But the world of steam is an open book and that part of Mike’s life is on view to all and sundry.

If a man wants to know what Mike was like, I say to him, measure him against the great steam engines that annually parade across his beloved Dorset landscape.

Compare the two and it will be the steam engines in all their glory that will be found wanting. He was greater than the greatest, more respected than the immortal Quo Vadis, more looked up to than the highest engine chimney, and greater than the whole. Mike dreamt it, created it, drove it forward and left it as a living symbol of one man’s achievement.

His son Martin is already conscious that he walks in the footsteps of a giant.
I am proud and privileged to be part of what Mike created. His daughter Sarah has forever been a tower of strength and his wife Jean a rock on which he leant.

RIP Mike.

Brian Moore

End of an era: The last heritage trams to Fleetwood

17 December 2009
THE weekend of 7-8 November 2009 saw the fleet of traditional trams bow out at Fleetwood, Lancs, in what were the last two days of public service on England’s last traditional street tramway prior to its closure for upgrading to light rail standards, reports
Barrie C Woods.

The £100-million upgrade of Blackpool’s 124-year-old tramway includes £68.3-million from the Department for Transport and £33.4-million from the local council.

Work on the traditional tramway will include replacing eight kilometres of track, accessibility improvements, tram priority at junctions, a new depot and the purchase of 16 Bombardier ‘high speed’ Flexity 2 trams.

The famous tram systems around Blackpool and Fleetwood were opened in 1885, eventually reaching 11 miles running on standard gauge track (4ft 8½in) and operating on 550 volts. Conduit was originally laid but replaced by overhead wires in 1895.

The whole system is now shut down for the winter and the section to Fleetwood will not reopen until 2012. (Blackpool will reopen in April 2010). The new trams will see the demise of much of the existing fleet, although a number will be retained for working the Blackpool-only section in high season and for special events. Barrie describes the final hours: ‘It was a strange ending for the Fleetwood trams: Very little information beforehand, just a small article in the Blackpool Gazette. The Lancastrian Transport Trust did manage to issue some information and booking forms for tickets on the last days, headed ‘Farewell to Fleetwood’, but that was about it and even the staff seemed to know little of what was going on!

However I had heard enough to be tempted into buying tickets for myself and the family on the 1pm vintage tram from Rigby Road on Saturday 7 November. Even the ticket, when it arrived, was curious; no replicated vintage bell-push example, just an A4 sheet with details and ‘3 x Adult, 1 x child’ handwritten on it. A second tour at 7.30pm and two the following, very last day at 10.30am and 2.30pm was all that had been ‘officially’ arranged.

The two trams booked for the tour were the 1914 No 40 and later built wartime Brush No 623. Due to the numbers of visitors booked, Sheffield No 513, a 1953 double-decker, was also commandeered. It was pouring with rain, which always makes a last run of anything all the more poignant. Just before 1pm at Rigby Road depot the three trams were brought out and, already cold and very wet, we duly clambered aboard, the windows rapidly steaming up even before we’d moved. Before long the trio moved off at a sedate pace with No 40 on which we were, at the head, on to the seafront and northbound for Fleetwood. Past the famous tower and on to the street running section before we were on dedicated tracks. A stop at North Pier and Little Bispham allowed some photography, still in the teeming rain. We then progressed through Cleveleys with a couple more stops and on into Fleetwood Ferry, stopping on the loop for a few minutes to allow some service trams to pass.

The rain had still not eased as we all re-boarded for the journey back. At Ash Street, just a mile or so down the road, we had to reverse again, to save on some later shunting movements, which took us back to the loop before we were allowed to restart the journey to Blackpool. A couple more stops en-route with the light now failing and we were on our way to the Pleasure Beach turning circle. Just a minute or so there and we once more headed north, it was now nearly dark. Just past the tower we halted and reversed again which took us back to the turn-out for Rigby Road Depot.

We arrived there, having completed a journey over the whole of the currently used system, just after 5pm.

On the Sunday, special tours were organised at 10.30am and 2.30pm. Later in the day the highlight of the weekend was the final tour which started from Blackpool at 11.45pm. Prior to that the ‘specials’ were running in between service trams during the day. The weather on the Sunday was far better and there were a number of enthusiasts in attendance. As for the locals, few seemed to know anything about it! I went out at 11pm on the Sunday night expecting to see hordes of camera-touting fans, but despite driving up and down the front chasing the specials I appeared to be the only person doing so!

At the appointed time the cortege stopped outside the Tower and the mayoral party including Mayor of Blackpool Councillor Norman Hardy, stepped aboard No 40 and proceeded north to Fleetwood.

There were still one or two service trams in evidence but the three specials headed north with a transit van at their head with its flashers on! Their eventual return to Rigby Road was anticipated to be 1.30am!’

Stratford revivalists ‘defect’ to Sharpness

17 December 2009
A REVIVALIST group which had the aim of returning steam to Stratford-upon-Avon from the south has decided to join forces with a bid to revive the Sharpness Docks branch.

The Stratford & Broadway Railway Society, which is based at the former MoD depot at Long Marston, has for years intended to reopen the Honeybourne-Stratford section of the GWR route from Stratford to Cheltenham.

It was formed as a breakaway group from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, which still has the ultimate aim of relinking Stratford and Cheltenham
by train.

However, the use of the surviving freight spur from Long Marston to Honeybourne for the storage of main line trainsets and rolling stock has left the group largely confined to its shed on the site.As reported in Heritage Railway issue 131, a bid to revive the Sharpness branch both for commercial freight and as a steam line is being made by a Cheltenham-based firm called
Pro-Active Vision.

As highlighted in our News Focus Special feature on pages 34-38, the man behind the Sharpness initiative is David Heathcote, one of the first three directors of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. Stratford & Broadway Railway Society chairman Roland Hall said: “There is not a lot we can do at Long Marston with the site being increasingly used for rolling stock storage and we can’t run on any of the track apart from on the bit around our shed.

“We may have 200 members, but there are only seven or eight regular volunteers. It is not economical to stop here. We have to look at the next 10 years to see any chance of making progress. That is too long for us as we have been there for 13 years already.

“By contrast, we see Sharpness as a good opportunity to become involved in an operating railway, and we aim to take our Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST as soon as its overhaul is completed. “We hope to move to Sharpness at the end of 2010, when we have a shed built to house our stock.”

The Long Marston site is currently the focus of a highly controversial bid by the Government to build a 4000-home ‘eco town’. The plans are currently being fought by pressure groups in the region, but if they get the go-ahead, it could mean an end to the group’s home. Roland said he was becoming increasingly sceptical as to whether it would ever be possible to rebuild the railway to Stratford. It is now 30 years since the track was lifted, and a crucial section of the formation is now occupied by the town’s western bypass.

It has often been said that a green verge wide enough to accommodate a single track railway leading to and from the town’s station has been left in the event of the line being reinstated, but it passes behind private homes and Roland believes there would be wholesale objections from residents to trains passing behind their homes.

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway spokesman Ian Crowder said: “None of this takes away from our objective to restore as much of the Stratford-Cheltenham railway line as possible.

“The Stratford & Broadway Railway Society has been dormant for some time.

“Network Rail has a plan to rebuild the Long Marston branch to the edge of Stratford if the eco town is built.

“With the doubling of the Oxford-Worcester line, Network Rail is altering Honeybourne Junction to allow us to go into the vacant side of Honeybourne platform, so that is the next goal to aim for.”

Spa Valley steam on way

17 December 2009
WITH work on Polish Tkh 0-6-0T Ferrum Spartan almost complete at the Spa Valley Railway, former Corby Steelworks 0-6-0ST No 62 has had its overhauled boiler and replacement ashpan fitted with most of the boiler lagging and cladding already in place.

Further back in the queue, J94 0-6-0ST No 68077 is gradually being rebuilt with attention being currently focused on the replacement of wasted platework at the rear of the frames.

Fowler resteams after Bredgar rebuild

17 December 2009
THE Bredgar & Wormshill Railway has steam tested its latest restoration project, Fowler 0-4-2T, works No 13573 of 1912. It ran at one of the first sugar mills to be established in Mozambique, at Mopeia which, unusually, was built to 50cm gauge rather than the more common 60cm.

A number of steam locomotives were ordered from John Fowler of Leeds and the first was delivered in 1898. At least six others followed, this locomotive being the fourth.

Some of these locomotives were eventually transferred to another mill (Marromeu) where they were regauged to 60cm (2ft) but this example stayed at Mopeia where it worked until about 1965. It lay derelict for many years at Mopeia before being repatriated to the UK in the 1990s. As part of its rebuild it has now been regauged to 60cm gauge and is expected to see regular use in 2010.

Wroughton opens ‘Hangar L4’ at Buses 60 anniversary

17 December 2009
THE former airfield hangar designated ‘L4’ – containing various forms of transport in the Science Museum’s reserve collection at Wroughton near Swindon – was opened to visitors on Sunday 18 October when Buses magazine celebrated its 60th anniversary event at the site, reports Colin Tyson.

The magazine’s sponsorship allowed for general exhibition Hangar D4 to be open and staffed continually, and to allow controlled visits to Hangar L4. The latter was open to groups of 25 visitors at a time in pre-booked half-hour sessions through the day, which were later reduced to 20-minute sessions in order to add two more tours later in the afternoon – such were their popularity.

While over 80 visiting buses of all types lined the apron extending from Hangar D4, sales stands for enthusiasts were grouped inside D4. This building’s exhibits have been rearranged and include a mixed general display ranging from a section of Britain’s first reinforced concrete, through cars and bicycles, to the whole being dominated by the presence of a Lockheed 747 Constellation, new to Dutch airline KLM in 1947. A ‘Trevithick-type’ high pressure return flue steam boiler of c1804 shares the floor with stationary engines ranging from a Priestman 3hp oil engine of 1895 and a Harvey of Hale steam engine with oscillating cylinder of 1870 – and the first tractor built by the Ivel concern of Biggleswade, Beds in 1902.

Other exhibits of note were a Hildebrand steam motor cycle of 1889, a prototype built by Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand of Munich, fitted with a small single-cylinder steam engine. It has a tubular flash boiler of the Serpollet type between its two wheels while firing was by coke, stored in the sheet metal container within the cycle frame. This is situated next to a Stanley steam car of 1899, noteworthy as being one of the first examples to adopt a light tubular chassis.

Further on is displayed a model of a Harvey & Co Cornish pumping engine which was displayed at the International Exhibition of 1862.

Preserved buses undertook a shuttle service from the show area out to Hangar L4, whereby after a safety briefing and introduction from senior curator Peter Turvey, visitors donned hard hats to be able to pass under the door in safety from spalling masonry. A walking route had been forged past a row of buses (as being of main interest to that day’s visitors) at which the steam and agricultural section was at the rear. Of note in this part of the hangar are Foden 5-ton wagon No 6368 of 1916 Pride of Edwin (believed in working order); Aveling & Porter R15 road roller No 2185 of 1886 ex-Croydon Corporation; a Ruston & Hornsby portable engine; Fowler BB1 ploughing engines Nos 15194/5 of 1918 William Shakespeare and Jane Hathaway and McLaren traction engine No 112 of 1881 Empress of India – famed for its coming to the Science Museum along with
an early example of roundabout ploughing tackle.

Peter Turvey explained that funding, or the lack of it, remains the underlying frustration at Wroughton and the best that can happen for the time being is that they carry on ‘conserving’ and opening to visitors on high days – the recent successful ‘Festival of Innovation’ event held in September being of note. With over 300,000 objects in its care, the Science Museum at South Kensington can only display eight per cent of its collection at any one time. The largest object at Wroughton is probably the Wood Press, which is a section of the last operational printing press in Fleet Street.

Acquired in 2001, it weighs 140 tonnes and is the size of two small houses.

Turvey explained that the museum would not be averse to loaning items out in the right circumstances, ‘but these were more likely to be items such as the Fowler ploughing pair whereby they are not of a unique surviving class’. When further questioned as to the roundabout ploughing tackle (in the knowledge that the Steam Plough Club had made overtures in this direction in the past) the reply came that because of its uniqueness they would wish it to be ‘conserved and to stay with the engine that it came with’ – although I noted that it wasn’t on display literally with the McLaren!

All too soon the next busload had arrived and it was time to exit, but a glimpse into what might be one day is better than no glimpse at all and there must have been hundreds of visitors that were disappointed at not having had the chance to book on an L4 tour that day.

Star lot at Kivells collective goes to Ireland

17 December 2009
THE 17th annual Kivells collective sale was held on 3 October at Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre at Lifton, Devon, reports Roger Hamlin.

The crowd seemed a little lighter than previous years and the number of entries was also down.

Maestro auctioneer John Wakeham was, as per normal, the centre of attention – the crowds come not only for the auction but to be entertained and have an excellent day out. Early on, a large generator that had been painted and lined, possibly ex-showman’s engine, failed to sell at bids of £300.

Five part-built scale models attracted good bidding before the maestro auctioneer handed over to his deputy Mr Chris Clapham, while John auctioned the many books and paraphernalia that this year had been placed in a separate room – a total of 235 lots, the majority of which failed to reach prices previously achieved.

In tractors, a Bristol 1947 Orchard roller made a respectable £360; a David Brown 900 in original condition made £1525; a CockshutT- Oliver Standard 70 brought £1025; a Ferguson TEF £1150; a good-looking 1954 Case 500 diesel tractor made £5400 and a 1951 Massey Harris made £650. Last came a restored Field Marshall Series 2 at £5160.

Of the ‘prize vehicles’, first up was a 1927 TMC Chevrolet 1-ton van, which was slowly bidded up to £9000. Many thought the star of the show was the only known Rowe Hillmaster artic unit. It attracted bids up to £19,000 before it was passed over.

Next up, Aveling & Porter roller No 10981, an AG Type 12-ton piston valve single-cylinder example, which was taken to £24,000 before being declared unsold.

The crowd were waiting for lot number 728 – Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies traction engine No 42035 of 1932 Alisa Rose, which has been in the Vernon family since 1959. Fully restored and with a third speed added, the bidding started at £80,000, and quickly rose to £95,000, where, after slowly rising to £99,000, the auctioneer then called out ‘£100,000. Sold.’ The purchaser, from Ireland, had sent a couple of guys over to bid on his behalf.

This auction, unlike previous years, didn’t take until 5pm, it was all over just after 4pm, leaving the audience to chew over the fat and to consider that the final lot seemed quite a bargain.

Mortons Acquire Classic American Magazine

Lincolnshire publishers Mortons Media Group Ltd have purchased Classic American magazine from the Trader Media Group. The magazine is the market-leading title for all things relating to classic American cars.

Mortons are one of the largest family-owned independent publishing companies in the UK with a portfolio of magazine titles of a similar size to Classic American. They are probably most famous for their classic motorcycle titles, including Classic Bike Guide, a former stable mate of Classic American when both titles were owned by Myatt-Macfarlane Publishing. Their expertise is very much in publishing specialist titles and most recently they acquired Kitchen Garden magazine, the UK’s leading title for those who grow their own produce.

Managing Director of Mortons Media Group Ltd Brian Hill commented: ‘We are delighted to be taking on Classic American. It is well placed to sit alongside our growing portfolio of specialist heritage transport titles and we have exciting plans to maintain the title at the forefront of the classic American car scene.’

Editor Ben Klemenzson will be staying with the title which will be published from Morton’s centre of operations in Horncastle. Ben commented ‘The move to Mortons can only be good news and I’m looking forward to the next successful chapter in the Classic American story with our loyal readers, subscribers and advertisers’.

www.classic-american.com

The British Steam Car Goes on Tour...

• 13th January 2010
Goodyear Head Office
Corporate appearance

• 14th–15th January 2010
Autosport Engineering Show, NEC Birmingham
Autosport Engineering is firmly established as Europe’s largest dedicated trade-only motorsport exhibition for specialist technical suppliers to the motorsport and performance engineering sector. It forms an integral part of Autosport International. This dedicated trade show embraces the cross-over of technology from other industries and showcases new suppliers and manufacturing expertise and technology. It is regarded by many industry figureheads as motorsport’s primary motorsport technology show.
For more information visit: www.autosport-international.com/trade/engineering

• 12-14th March 2010 - Race Retro 2010
The 7th International Historic Motorsport Show
Europe's premier winter show for historic motorsport
A full three days of activities, where motorsport enthusiasts, event organisers, engineering and restoration companies and the supporting trades are brought together in a relaxed atmosphere to discuss business and competition for the season and to promote events and services. Over 24,000 visitors in total and hundreds of exhibitors make this the Premier European Historic Motorsport Show, covering cars and bikes from eight decades.
For more information visit www.raceretro.com

• 19th-21st March 2010
The British Leisure Show, Royal Windsor Racecourse
The British Leisure Show is set to be the biggest consumer launch show of 2010 in the UK, created to inspire thousands of people, of all ages, to discover new ways of enjoying the great outdoors, with a fantastic range of products and activities to see, try and buy. There’s a comprehensive range of outdoor leisure products comprising of 8 zones for visitors to experience including the Autoglym sponsored car owners’ paddock (within the Car and Bike section
For more information visit www.britishleisureshow.com

• 24th March, PDS Engineering/Preston Branch of Aeronautics TBC

• 5th–6th June 2010, Beaulieu Motor Museum Steam Show
Details to follow

• 19th – 25th July
Farnborough International Air Show TBC
For further information regarding the tour or if you can help with sponsorship,

Please contact Rebecca Nicholls on T: 01452 260063 or email: Rebecca@eventspr.co.uk

Crane engines display lifts Bedfordshire rally to new heights

15 October 2009
FOR MANY steam and vintage enthusiasts the high spot of the rally season is the Great Dorset Steam Fair but the annual event organised by the Bedford Steam Engine Preservation Society is now surely an equal when it comes to presenting engine displays of interest, reports Alan Barnes.

This year’s rally, the 51st, held in the grounds of Shuttleworth House at Old Warden, took place over the weekend of 19-20 September with cranes and crane engines being the event’s ‘theme’. Well over 100 full-sized traction engines of all types were on display and the event was also marked by some significant reunions, with engines appearing together for the first time in many years.

The J Lyons & Co 1929 Sentinel DG6 No 7966, restored by Barry Cousins, was reunited with the 1930 DG6T restored by Derek Gransden and now owned by Gary Scott. These two steam waggons were only saved from complete destruction by the efforts of Edgar Shone and as derelicts they spent some time stored in his yard behind the Crown Public House in Cricklewood, North London.

Another engine reunion occurred in the arena where spectators were treated to a notable ‘rally first’ – the conversion of an Aveling & Porter tractor into its roller configuration (see centre pages). To handle the heavy lifting two crane engines were used, both appropriately owned at one time by Len Crane.

He still owns the 1928 Fowler B6 Super Lion No 17212 Wolverhampton Wanderer and this engine shared the lifting duties in the arena with Burrell crane engine No 3197 of 1910. The Burrell had been bought by Len in 1976 and rallied at the Black Country Museum steam gatherings that Len used to organise and it is now owned by David Allen and his family and has been superbly restored into its original Screen Brothers livery. The ‘victim’ of the conversion was the 1907 Aveling & Porter convertible steam tractor No 6319 and the team involved managed to complete Saturday’s demonstration in fifty minutes, an impressive performance by all concerned.

This season’s striking debutante, the bright yellow Burrell showman’s road locomotive No 3910 of 1921 Wait & See was also reunited at Old Warden with another showman’s engine. Both had been at Bill Hunt’s yard in Birmingham in the 1950s and Bill took the opportunity to pose Wait & See alongside Burrell showman’s road locomotive No 3890 of 1921 Majestic, which is now part of the Saunders Collection. There were several other engines from the Saunders Collection at the event including the superbly restored pair of 1915 Fowler K7 ploughing engines Sunrise and Sunset, Nos 14247 and 14248, which could be seen working in the ploughing area. Another fine restoration recently completed by the ‘Saunders Agricultural Dept’ is Fowler Tiger tractor No 15069 of 1920. This neat little tractor was originally bought by someone in Cornwall who soon discovered that it could not cope with the hills in the area and it was sold to a new owner in Scotland. I’d have thought that Scotland had even steeper hills but it seemed to cope well with its timber hauling duties. In 1956 it was acquired by the Drage family near Royston and was used around their farm as well as being rallied for many years.

While many of the engines at the event are local others had travelled some considerable distance to take part and these included several exhibits from Scotland. Among them was Aveling & Porter KT traction engine No 11137 of 1925 Wizard, owned and restored by Alfie Cheyne who acquired the engine in 2002.

Although there are other surviving steam crane engines elsewhere in the world the 11 UK survivors were brought together at this rally for the first time and what an impressive line-up they made. With other types of crane, both old and modern, also on display, the progressive development of heavy lifting machinery could be seen.

For the record the engines were Burrell No 3166/1909; 1910 Burrell No 3197/1910; Burrell SCC No 3695/1915; Burrell No 3807/1919; Burrell No 3829/1921; Burrell No 4074/1927; Clayton & Shuttleworth No 45333/1913; Fowler B5 No 8920/1901; Fowler B6 No 17106/1928; Fowler B6 No 17212/1928 and Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies No 31086/1920.

A nice touch in the programme was entry No 24 which listed Len Crane, Born in Goole, Works Number unknown and who has been heavily involved with the steam preservation movement for many years. Entry No 25 was Jane Crane, Len’s wife, described as a ‘Crane Conversion by marriage’.

Working area displays included horse, steam and tractor ploughing, wood sawing and threshing while the main arena entertained the large crowds with falconry, sheep dogs and the parades of engines and vehicles. Overhead there were flying displays each day featuring various classic aircraft from the Shuttleworth Collection with some making such low passes over the rally field that I thought the pilots were considering a visit to the beer tent.

With engine owners not restricted to their ‘pegs’ and given the freedom to responsibly drive their engines around the rally area the visitors had the chance to see some of these fine engines on the move. It also provides the opportunity to ‘borrow’ one or two engines and pose them in different places for the benefit of photographers and on behalf of all ‘snappers’ I would like to thank the crews and owners who kindly obliged and put up with our ‘faffing’ about.

Paul and Mark Worbey, the BSEPS Committee and all their volunteers and helpers are to be congratulated on presenting and organising a first class event. If there are enthusiasts out there who have yet to attend this rally it is high time to firmly mark it in next year’s diary for 18-19 September. .

Fleetwood to be tramless for three years

15 October 2009
AS PART of the almost £100-million upgrade to Blackpool’s tram system, services to Fleetwood ferry terminal at the promenade will be suspended from early November, reports Brian Dobbs.

The upgrade, with joint funding of £33.4-million from Blackpool and Lancashire County Councils and with a Dept of Transport Grant of £68.3-million, will see the tracks and supporting infrastructure that run down Fleetwood's Lord Street, past the former railway-owned North Euston Hotel and the ferry terminal, replaced in a civil engineering project that will last until Easter 2012.

With parts of the system nearly 100 years old, significant refurbishment work has already been undertaken on other parts of the network, and the section between Starr Gate and Pleasure Beach recently closed for renovation and to facilitate continuing work on Blackpool’s new sea defences and promenade reconstruction work.

Rebuilding of the network for the introduction of new commuter ‘super trams’ will not see the end of the heritage fleet, as the latter are an integral part of Blackpool’s culture and are a great attraction to visitors, and those historic vehicles will continue to ply their trade along the main promenade in the future.

There will be a number of ‘Farewell to Fleetwood’ tours with heritage trams over the weekend of 7-8 November, after which services will cease to run along Lord Street to the Ferry Terminal.

The annual Transport Festival held in July is still planned to take place during the works.ated steam rides hauled by 1954-built Polish 0-6-0T Chrzanow No 4015 Karel.

Day change for Carrington rally

15 October 2009
LINCOLNSHIRE’S Carrington Rally won’t be open on Spring Bank Holiday Monday in 2010. Instead, everything is being brought forward by a day.

The traditional auction and car boot sale will be held for the first time on a Friday, with the rally itself taking place on the Saturday and Sunday, 29 and 30 May.

“We believe that Saturday could potentially be busier than the Monday has traditionally been,” said a spokesman.

West Country Road Run

7 October 2009
Although the West of England Steam Engine Society is moving its rally from St Agnes to a new site for 2010 the committee felt that it should continue to hold the Alan Thomas Memorial Road Run as an annual event rather than a five-yearly event. The 2010 event will be held on Sunday 18 April, the weekend prior to Trevithick Day. The event will start and finish at the old railway line road which was the main exhibitors entrance into the rally field, taking in Engine Hill and the traditional stop at the Victory Inn. If you would like more information about taking part, please contact the Steam Secretary through www.weses.co.uk

Major accident for just-restored Sentinel

SENTINEL S4 waggon No 8827 has suffered extensive damage after being involved in a road accident near Billericay, Essex, leaving owner Jim Stanley feeling devastated.

For he had just completed restoration of the waggon (feature OG 233) and was undertaking a road test prior to steaming it to the Weeting Rally when an impatient car driver overtook the waggon in a dangerous place, causing a collision which also involved a third vehicle.

The impact was so severe that the waggon left the road and came to rest among a wooded area at the side, demolishing small trees in the process. The BMW car was firmly entangled to the underside of the chassis and front of the waggon with the car’s front axle, suspension and drive shafts wedged underneath the Sentinel’s engine.

The grate and ashpan mountings were destroyed and ripped off. Luckily the grates and ashpan had been wedged up inside the firebox and the fire remained within the firebox (the BMW’s fuel tank was just inches away and the consequences of the fire being dropped would have been serious).

Miraculously, the waggon’s crew (Jim, Glen Prince and David Gates) were OK but badly shocked. The occupants of the cars also escaped serious injury although they were taken to hospital for observation.

Damage to the waggon is extensive and includes severe damage to the chassis, cab, steering assemblies and underside, including the engine and pipework.

The waggon was due to be moved to Goolds of Camerton where it will be completely stripped down to the chassis for full assessment and repair.

The offending driver may be prosecuted for his actions and has admitted blame. The insurance company has approved assessment and repairs can begin, however this is little compensation for Jim and Glen who have put their heart and soul into this restoration over many months. Parts are now being collected and sourced for the repairs, including several new castings.

Jim Stanley would like to thank Matt Foster, Ian Prince, Rob Clarke and recovery specialist Nigel Crosse for taking the waggon back to the yard (which was two miles away and no easy feat with no steering).

Jim said: “Thanks also go to all those friends who have offered us support and kind words (it means a lot to us) and also thanks to 8827, which kept us all safe. We hope to get the waggon back in steam and on the road as soon as possible.”

• In a separate incident, Stuart Gray’s ‘Castle Firebrick’ Sentinel waggon was involved in a road accident on its way home from Onslow Park rally and has suffered front end damage.

NTET launches competency scheme

ON THE evening of the first day of the Great Dorset Steam Fair the National Traction Engine Trust held a meeting for members to introduce its new Voluntary Certificate of Competence for driving and operating Road Steam Engines and Portable Steam Engines.

The meeting was hosted by Robert Herring, NTET Chairman, and a presentation on the new scheme was given by Bob Garnett. Following a long period of discussion within the Trust, many months of detailed work have been undertaken by Bob Garnett and Tony Seddon assisted by Stuart and Hazel Tomlinson in putting the scheme together. A full report will appear in the next issue.

Morwelham Quay enters administration

A TOP West Country tourist attraction is to go into administration after Devon County Council announced it was to stop using taxpayers’ money to fund it.

The council has ploughed £1.2-million into Morwellham Quay, on the River Tamar near Tavistock, since the former Lib Dem administration agreed a loan in 2006.

But the council’s new Conservative leadership has pulled the plug, saying it will no longer bail out the historical-themed business, which gives an impression of Victorian industrial and rural life, after the last loan runs out at the end of September.

The Morwellham and Tamar Valley Trust said that the decision meant that it had no option but to call in administrators.

Lord Steel becomes FBHVC vice president

LORD Steel of Aikwood has agreed to become a vice-president of the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs.

Lord Steel is a well-known and reputable politician of long standing. Since 1990, he has competed in five Monte Carlo rallies and won a bronze medallion in the 1998 London to Cape Town event. He has recently campaigned in his 1965 Jaguar Mark II, built in the year in which, as David Steel, he first became an MP.

Lord Steel attends the all-party Parliamentary Historic Vehicle Group meetings in Westminster and supports the Federation, together with Lord Montagu, in monitoring and challenging legislation to keep historic vehicles on the road.

British team sets another steam record

26 August - Edward’s Air Force Base, California

Yesterday at 8.22am (California time) Don Wales successfully set another land speed record for a steam powered car.  The car set the record for a measured kilometre – achieving an average speed of 148.308mph on two runs. 

After Charles Burnett III’s heroics on Tuesday in breaking the record for a measured mile, test driver Don Wales piloted the car for the attempt at the kilometre record and reached a peak speed over 155mph. Both new international records are subject to official confirmation by the FIA.

Don Wales said: "What a great feeling, the car felt better than ever today. We peaked over 150mph and the car was handling beautifully. The team has worked so hard over the last 10 years, especially over the last few weeks! Having set two FIA world records is an amazing achievement and no-more than the team deserve after their perseverance”
 
Project Manager Matt Candy said: "It’s fantastic to set another record for the team and all that hard work has been worth it. After Charles broke the record for the measured mile on Tuesday, we decided to have one more run with the car and attempt the kilometre record. We took some of the inhibitors from the boilers for this run and it helped get a bit more speed out of the car. The weather was perfect today and the air temperature was just 62 degrees Fahrenheit, the team turned around the car in an amazing 30minutes which is their quickest ever! Don has worked so hard with the team, it’s fantastic that he should go home with a record too.”

British team breaks oldest land speed record

25 August - Edward’s Air Force Base, California

Today at 8.19am (California time) Charles Burnett III successfully broke the land speed record for a steam powered car – which has stood for more than 100 years – achieving an average speed of 139.843mph on two runs over a measured mile.

Driver Charles Burnett III piloted the car for both runs reaching a peak speed of 136.103mph on the first run and 151.085 mph on the second. The new international record, which is subject to official confirmation by the FIA, breaks the previous official FIA record of 127mph set in 1906 by American, Fred Marriott, driving a Stanley steamer at Daytona Beach.

As he was congratulated by his jubilant crew, principal driver, Charles Burnett III said: "It was absolutely fantastic I enjoyed every moment of it. We reached nearly 140mph on the first run before I applied the parachute. All systems worked perfectly, it was a really good run. The second run went even better and we clocked a speed in excess of 150 mph. The car really did handle beautifully. The team has worked extremely hard over the last 10 years and overcome numerous problems. It is a privilege to be involved with such a talented crew, what we have achieved today is a true testament to British engineering, good teamwork and perseverance”

Project Manager Matt Candy said: "The first run took place at 7.27am when the air temperature was a cool 63 degrees Fahrenheit, the team turned around the car in 52minutes (with just 8 minutes spare) in preparation for its return run.  The British Steam Car takes 2.5 miles to accelerate and after the measured mile, a further 2.5 miles to decelerate – so each run was over 6.5 miles. The FIA requires that the return run takes place within 60 minutes. The times of the two runs are then averaged to obtain the official recorded speed. Compared to the testing we did in Britain, the British Steam Car ran 12 times the distance and twice the maximum speed - all within one hour. It’s been a huge challenge for all.
 
Pam Swanston wife of the late project manager Frank Swanston was overcome with emotion after seeing Charles power the supercar across the dry lake bed, she said: "If only Frank was here today, it was his vision that made it a reality. He would be incredibly proud of the team's achievements and always believed we would succeed. Today we celebrate this record for Frank"

Weighing three tons, the sleek 25-ft British Steam Car is made from a mixture of lightweight carbon-fibre composite and aluminium wrapped around a steel space frame chassis. It is fitted with 12 boilers containing nearly two miles of tubing. Demineralised water is pumped into the boilers at up to 50 litres a minute and the burners produce three megawatts of heat. Steam is superheated to 400 degrees Celsius which is injected into the turbine at more than twice the speed of sound.

British Steam Car Team on Course for World Record Success

18 August 2009 - Edward’s Air Force Base, California

The British Steam Car Team have now successfully carried out 5 test runs in excess of 100mph ahead of its bid to break the century-old world land speed record for steam-powered vehicles. After numerous setbacks last week, the team were jubilent on Saturday having unofficailly beaten the Fred Marriott record. The teams own calibrated equipment measured the two way average at 137.14mph, and a 48min 52 second turn-around.

Today the British Steam Car Team will commence their attempts to achieve an official record  The current FIA record is 127mph previously set by American, Fred Marriott, driving a Stanley steam car in 1906.

Project Manager Matt Candy said:" it was an enourmous achievement on Saturday and one we hope to replicate now that the FIA timing officials have joined us today. The timing equipement is currently being set up across the 7mile lakebed. When we left England we knew we had a tough challenge ahead, but we had carried out all the testing we could. Since arriving in the USA the team has had to do a lot of preperations to the car with the effects of heat, altitude and the surface conditions. Compared to UK testing at Thorney, Portsmouth, the goal has been to make the car travel twelve times the distance, at double the speed and twice within one hour. Saturday was a milestone for the team in achieving this goal".

The FIA is the sanctioning body and now recognizes a land speed record as the average speed of two passes made across the same measured distance in opposing directions within 60 minutes of each other. The time of the two runs is then averaged to obtain the official recorded speed.

The record runs will commence at 6am USA time (2pm UK time). We will keep you posted with the team news!

£400K Lottery first stage pass for Dreamland, Margate

18 August 2009

THE Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has given the green light to The Dreamland Trust to work up plans to create the world’s first amusement park of historic rides.

First Stage development funding of £384,500 was awarded to help progress the ground-breaking plans, meaning that the Trust can now progress to the second stage of the HLF application process.

The Trust has up to two years to submit more detailed plans and apply for the £2.65-million of HLF support that it is seeking for Phase One of the project, which totals over £12-million. The Dreamland Margate project celebrates the heritage of popular seaside culture, of which this site is a nationally important example. Phase One will create a thrilling amusement park of historic rides, many of which are the last surviving examples of their type.

Over the past decade, rides have been rescued from across the UK with the assistance of site owners the Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company; visitors will be able to experience the thrill of riding this rare and precious collection. Centred on the Grade II-listed Scenic Railway, it is expected that the park will generate considerable employment opportunities for local people.

During Phase One, work will also be carried out on the Grade II*- listed Dreamland cinema building, restoring its 1930s modernist façade, safeguarding the auditorium and Compton organ and installing an exhibition space to explain and publicise the project.

57 varieties at Pickering

18 August 2009

THE FOUR-DAY ‘Biggest Steam Rally in the North’ was well-attended even on the opening Thursday, and despite variable weather across the country it only rained during that night, reports Barrie C Woods.

The programme for the 57th Pickering Rally, which your reporter had complained bitterly about on his last visit, had improved but there were just four pages dedicated to the descriptions of over 90 engines! ‘Showman’s Tractor – J Epton’ and ‘General Purpose – Ritchie’ is just not good enough.

The rally bustled with activity; three large arenas ensuring that there is always activity going on to suit everyone, in addition the tractor pulling is probably the best on offer, as embankments are situated alongside the pulling area which does away with the necessary high fencing one usually has to peer through. The fencing is below the line of vision and photography is therefore better. Steam ploughing remains the poor relation at this rally.

Two classic Fowler ploughing engines, Nos 13881 and 14375, did their bit with just 100 metres or so to work. One of Pickering’s strong points is evening entertainment, and on the Friday there was a road run to Thornton-le-Dale, only a matter of three miles or so but which encompassed a fair hill en-route. The atmosphere in the village square has to be experienced to be believed, far better than Pickering itself, which was the venue for the Saturday night road run.

Some dozen engines arrived over the course of an hour or so together with all manner of commercials, tractors, cars, buses and motor cycles.

Lyons’ Sentinel debut at Bloxham hailed ‘restoration of the year’

HAILED IN some quarters as being the ‘restoration of the year’, without a doubt the outstanding exhibit at the Great Bloxham Vintage Vehicle & Country Show on 27-28 June was the quite magnificent Lyons’ Sentinel DG6 waggon No 7966 of 1929 owned by Barry Cousins, reports Malcolm Ranieri.

Last used commercially in 1933 and bought by the present owner in 2002 from Sue Doncaster of Colchester, it has spent five years under restoration.

And what a restoration! The correct light and dark blue and gold livery of J Lyons & Co Ltd applied to the Sentinel is quite simply the best coachwork I’ve ever seen!

J Lyons & Co Ltd (Joseph Nathaniel Lyons) of Cadby Hall, London W14, was founded in 1887 as a spin-off from Salmon & Gluckstein, tobacco merchants, and was a large British catering, food manufacturing and distribution business. Lyons were well known for their chain of teashops (1894 to 1981) and up to WWII their uniformed waitresses were known as ‘Nippies’ – the Sentinel also carries the name Nippy.

Lyons used a range of road vehicles in their business; in the first instance horse-drawn steam waggons, especially Sentinels, electric powered in London for local deliveries, and ultimately petrol and diesel lorries and vans all carrying the distinctive blue and gold livery, as did their shops, cafes and most of their products – some wearing the dedicated livery of Lyons’ Swiss Rolls.

Of the 20 engines attending the Banbury Steam Society’s show, also in the line-up was another interesting steam lorry, Mann Patent Steam Cart No 881 of 1914, a 5-ton wagon owned by A Stevens. This wagon served in France as a gun-pulling tractor and after WWI, Fylde Council used it on general haulage. In 1945 the famous contractor Isaac Ball of Preston converted it into a road roller, which saw use until 1958 before it entered preservation. It was restored to a flatbed lorry and the present owner from 2008 has carried out extensive work to the chimney, smokebox, lagging, steering and brakes.

Of local note, the Banbury-built 1870 Barrows & Stewart Portable No 542, now owned by James Blenkinsop, was belted to a Marshall threshing drum (see also page 68 for a Barrows survivor in Australia). When first built, it was supplied to J Hemmings of Brailes, a village about 10 miles from the rally, to power his workshop.

Subscribing is easier to Old Glory!

RENEWING your magazine subscription just got easier!

Now you can check your subscription, update your address or renew an order securely online. Not only can you update your details, but our renewal system also has some fantastic hidden offers.

Grab a free magazine sample, subscribe to a new title with a bonus discount or see money-off offers on our range of books.

Log in at www.classicmagazines.co.uk. All you need is your six-digit Customer ID (found on your delivery address sheet or renewal letter).

Visit our Classic Magazines website >>

3rd in the series: British Steam Past & Present
132 pages, £7.99

This is the third in the popular British Steam series. The bookazine contains an evocative mix of specially commissioned modern steam images and steam era archive pictures, the majority of which have never been published before.

The recently completed rebuild of ex LMS N0. 6100 Royal Scot is heralded with an in depth study of that restoration and the history of that iconic ex LMS locomotive class, including the facts surrounding the long standing ‘which Scot went to the USA’ argument.

• On sale in W H Smith and online (post free)
• More details / preview | Order this book online >>
* FREE p&p UK / Ireland