Table of contents for May 2024 in Old Glory

In our 2-part article we first look at the steam that ruled the roads around the museum, with a variety of manufacturers being represented. Starting things off were three Tasker engines that really looked the part in the museum’s period setting. The first was a 1914 B2 5hp steam tractor No.1592 which was built for Osier Clag Co of Wolverhampton. The engine had an interesting life to say the least, being used for removing slag from the steel and iron works for road material before being requisitioned for WW1 to winch timber. After the war, it passed to the Snodin family and the Midland Rolling & Haulage Co. Ltd, becoming No.4 of the seven Taskers owned by the company. Numbers 1 and 4 were converted to rollers, but No. 4…

Once again, the Black Country Museum’s Red by Night event on 17 March 2024 provided a unique opportunity to witness the sites, sounds and smells of the industrial heritage of the Black Country after dark. The museum is a constantly evolving site with new buildings and attractions being added all the time. This was the first year for the new post-war high street to feature in the Red by Night event. The 1950s butchers shop was doing a roaring trade in hot food for the duration of the evening. This interesting combination of buildings provided a new vista to photograph some of the road steam exhibits that were visiting for the weekend. Foster traction engine No. 14410 of 1920 Sprig looked like a scene from early preservation history parked up…

However, the Heritage committee had a plan which they executed really well and not one person got stuck, which, with a record entry of over 1,000 vehicles was quite an achievement. The event came through with flying colours and with a record crowd by far, at this 12th Heritage Show. The day started bright with sunshine, cloud and wind did pick up as the day went on, but, the rain didn’t arrive until 7pm, when most people had left for home. An integral part of this show is the 2024 South East Bus Festival and 100 + classic buses attended, giving free rides around the extensive site during the show they were packed to capacity. We take a look at this aspect of the show this month. This show very…

The Gibbons family ran a threshing contractor business out of the ‘Gibbons Yard’, behind their family home in Castor, Peterborough. The business was latterly run by Harry Gibbons until his death at age 49 in 1910. Eliza, Harry’s wife, then took the reins until her death in 1936, aged 77. It was then down to their youngest son of 12, Gilbert, aged 36, to take over. He was reluctant, but the most suitable candidate. The premises of the house and the yard were hired from the Earl of Fitzwillam, Milton Hall Estates until purchased by Gilbert Gibbons in 1950. At its height, the business utilised 12 traction engines at any one time, and various other threshing equipment. In fact it’s said that 40 different traction engines passed through the business…

I have always had a keen interest in Aveling Barford machinery due to a combination of me being a heavy plant mechanic and because I am from Grantham, Lincolnshire where of course Richard Hornsby started and where Aveling Barford came from. I started looking for my first classic plant restoration project and I knew I wanted a machine that Barford’s were famous for making… The road roller! Whilst searching to see what was out and about I really liked the charm of the GA 3 ton tandem model that Barford’s made and decided to focus my search for one. They are still a fairly common machine with many still working weekly at cricket clubs all over the country, but the majority were basic hand-start machines. Plenty of the hand-start models…

3rd-4th August WEST SOMERSET RAILWAY ASSOCIATION STEAM & VINTAGE RALLY WSRA Rally Fields, Norton Fitzwarren, Near Taunton, Somerset TA4 1BH Tel: 01823 433856 Email: info@steamrally.org.uk www.steamrally.org.uk 3rd-4th August GUERNSEY VINTAGE AGRICULTURAL SHOW Les Paysans, St Peter’s, Guernsey Organised by: Ron LeCras, Jim Jamouneau and Rodney Dyke Tel: 07781 142599 Email: thevintageagriculturalshowgsy@gmail.com RonClecras@gmail.com 4th August DOGDYKE IN STEAM Dogdyke Steam Drainage Station, Near Bridge Farm, Tattershall, Lincolnshire LN4 4JG Organised by Dogdyke Pumping Station Preservation Trust Tel: 01522 683755 Email: chrisj.p@ntlworld.com www.dogdyke.com Opens: 12.30pm-4.30pm Admission: None stated 4th August BIKEMEET & RECORD FAIR Museum of Power, Hatfield Road, Langford, Maldon, Essex CM9 6QA Tel: 01621 843183 Email: Contact vis form on website www.museumofpower.org.uk Admission: See website for details 4th August TWYFORD WATERWORKS OPEN DAY Twyford Waterworks, Hazeley Road, Twyford SO21 1QA…

29th September ON TRACK The Brickworks Museum, Swanwick Lane, Swanwick, Southampton SO31 7HB Tel: 01489 576248 Email: info@thebrickworksmuseum.org www.thebrickworksmuseum.org Admission: See website for details Open: 11am-4pm 29th September STEAM DAY & STIRLING ENGINE WORKING DISPLAY Waterworks Museum, Broomy Hill, Hereford HR4 0LJ Tel: 01432 342192 Email: info@waterworksmuseum.org.uk www.waterworksmuseum.org.uk Admission: Adults £9, Seniors £8, Student (16+) £4, U16s Free Opens: 11am-4pm 29th September PLOUGH DAY & COUNTRY FAIR Ramsey Rural Museum, Wood Lane, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire PE26 2XD Tel: 01487 815715 Email: info@ramseyruralmuseum.co.uk www.ramseyruralmuseum.co.uk Opens: 11am-4pm 29th September SHOWBUS Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, Station Road, Quainton, Aylesbury, Bucks HP22 4BY Tel: 01296 655720 Email: office@bucksrailcentre.org www.bucksrailcentre.org 29th September HARVEST FAMILY FUN DAY Heckington Windmill, Hale Road, Heckington, Sleaford, Lincolnshire NG34 9JW Tel: 01529 461919 Email: enquiries@heckingtonwindmill.org.uk Opens: 11am-4pm www.heckingtonwindmill.org.uk 29th September WEST OF…

3rd November KEIGHLEY BUS MUSEUM TRUST ‘TWILIGHT’ Dalton Lane, Riverside, Keighley Tel: 07465 897497 Email: board@kmbt.co.uk Opens: 12pm-6pm 3rd November FINAL FLING The Long Shop Museum, Leiston, Suffolk IP16 4ES Tel: 01728 832189 Email: info@longshopmuseum.co.uk www.longshopmuseum.co.uk Admission: TBC 3rd November LONDON-BRIGHTON VETERAN CAR RUN Madeira Drive, Brighton Tel: 01372 229270 Email: vcr@royalautomobileclub.co.uk www.veterancarrun.com Starts: 10am 5th November - TBC BONFIRE PARTY Klondyke Mill, Draycott-in-the-Clay, Staffordshire DE6 5GZ Organised by: North Staffs & Cheshire Traction Engine Club www.nsctec.co.uk Opens: 5.30pm. Fire 7pm. Display 7.30pm 9th November 200 YEARS OF THE BUS – YESTERDAY, TODAY & TOMORROW Manchester Museum of Transport, Boyle Street, Cheetham, Manchester M8 8UW Tel: 0161 205 2122 Email: email@gmts.co.uk www.motgm.uk Opens: 10am-4.30pm The museum will remain open until 7pm with free heritage bus rides running. 9th November ‘WITNEY…

1st January NEW YEAR’S DAY – BUS RUNNING DAY Oxford Bus Museum, Hanborough Station Yard, Main Road, Long Hanborough, Oxon OX29 8LA Tel: 01993 883617 Email: info@oxfordbusmuseum.org.uk www.oxfordbusmuseum.org.uk Opens: 10.30am-4.30pm Admission: Adults £8, Concs £7, Child (5-15) £5, family (2+2) £17 See website for details 1st January NEW YEAR’S DAY STEAM UP Westonzoyland, Pumping Station, Hoopers Lane, Westonzoyland, Bridgwater TA7 0LS Tel: 01278 691595 Email: steamteam@wzlet.org www.wzlet.org Admission: See website for details 1st January STEC NEW YEAR’S DAY ROAD RUN Starts: Sedgemoor Auction Centre, Jct 24 off M5, Bridgwater, Somerset Tel: 01761 470867 Email: contact@somersettractionengineclub.com www.somersettractionengineclub.com/club Opens: gates open 9.00am, road run starts 11.30am 1st January BROOKLANDS NEW YEAR’S DAY GATHERING Brooklands Museum, Brooklands Drive, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0QN Tel: 01932 857381 Email: info@brooklandsmuseum.com www.brooklandsmuseum.com/whats-on Admission: Normal museum admission applies…

The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu is celebrating after receiving a £226,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for an exciting new project. The project will see the Museum building refurbished, transforming the entrance and welcome area, and helping to develop a new Ages of Motoring gallery. The Heritage Fund grant will also support the Museum’s Learning team to deliver an ambitious outreach programme broadening the appeal of the new permanent gallery. The two-year project will see the Museum collaborate with local community groups and will explore motoring themes relevant to contemporary audiences and address gaps in representation within the collections. Jon Murden, Chief Executive of the National Motor Museum says, “We are delighted that the Museum will receive this support thanks to money raised by National Lottery players.…

Well-known preservationist and do-gooder for our movement for so many years Sandy Ross from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire has relinquished ownership of his lovely Aveling & Porter L-type No.12152 piston-valve compound SC1577 which he rallied for many years. The engine was new to Edinburgh Corporation then to John Farr in 1960 before moving to John Crawley and then Sandy Ross. The new owners of the engine come from near Northwich and are new to the movement. Apparently before we see the engine out again it needs major boilerwork that’s to be carried out shortly.…

Looking at some of the engines in a bit more detail, the Burrell name was certainly dominant. Leading the way was 4in roller Land Sub which was built from a Steam Traction World kit in 2019, being bought a year later by Anthony Morton of Wrexham, while the first of several road locomotives to be spotted was Robert Rayner’s 4in Burrell Lazarus. This engine has been owned by Robert for the last three years, being re-tubed in 2022 as well as undergoing an overhaul of its running gear. Then came Andrew Goddard’s 4in scratch-built 6hp Burrell single cylinder road locomotive with sons William and George seen in control as it paraded around the ring, while Jim Cook’s 4in road locomotive Endeavour was built five years ago using a Steam Traction…

Network Rail’s £30million refurbishment of Barmouth Bridge on the Cambrian Line in West Wales is now complete, reopening to schedule on 2 December. The work that has taken place has been some of the most challenging ever undertaken on the structure, replacing the steel spans with like for like new steelwork. The 154-year-old, Grade II* listed single-track structure is the oldest and longest timber viaduct in Wales, at 820m (900 yards) long, with a pedestrian and cycle pathway alongside the railway. It runs across the Mawddach Estuary between Morfa Mawddach and Barmouth stations and was designed and constructed by the Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway on its line between Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. Construction of the viaduct started in 1864, opening in October 1867. The line had already been absorbed into…

When steam roller owner and enthusiast, Markus Ziegler, retired a few years ago from the family road-making firm at Liestal in Switzerland, he and his wife Maria decided to travel to Australia to take advantage of the warmer weather there over the usually cold Christmas and New Year period being experienced in Europe. During their time down-under, as well as visiting relations in Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands, they’ve since toured various parts of the huge country and inevitably seen many road steam engines and locomotives on their travels. At Coen in Queensland, they discovered a portable engine which they were unable to identify. Also in the same state, at a small place by the name of Prairie, some 340 km southwest of Townsville, they caught sight of a traction engine in…

30th August - 1st September THE FLORAL FRINGE FAIR Loxwood Meadows, Loxwood, West Sussex RH14 0AL Tel: 07939 272443 Email: jeanfffjackman@gmail.com www.floralfringefair.co.uk Admission: Advance Adult £10, Child (5-13) £2.50, Family (2+2) £22 Opens: 10.30am-5pm 30th August - 1st September CHATSWORTH COUNTRY FAIR Chatsworth House, Bakewell, Derbyshire DE45 1PN Tel: 01246 565300 Email: info@chatsworth.org Opens: 9am www.chatsworth.org/events/chatsworth-country-fair 30th August - 1st September STEAM GALA Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway, the Station, Llanfair Caereinion, Powys SY21 0SF Tel: 01938 810441 Email: info@wllr.org.uk www.wllr.org.uk/events/steam-gala 30th August - 1st September MACMILLAN VINTAGE RALLY Langhurst Hill Farm, Balls Cross, Petworth, West Sussex GU28 9JW Tel: 01420 474298 / 07803 237694 Email: sylvia.haydon@btinternet.com All proceeds to Macmillan Cancer Opens: 10am-5pm 30th August - 1st September HERITAGE TRANSPORT WEEKEND Helston Railway, Trevarno Farm, Prospidnick, Helston, Cornwall TR13…

5th October MAIDSTONE VINTAGE TOY FAIR Lockmeadow Car Park, Baker Street, Maidstone, Kent ME16 8LW Tel: 01732 840787 www.maidstonevintagetoyfair.co.uk Admission: TBA 5th October COTTENHAM & DISTRICT PLOUGHING SOCIETY – PLOUGHING MATCH Cottenham, Cambridgeshire Tel: Paul Smith 07836 234976 Email: psmith134@btinternet.com www.ploughmen.co.uk 5th October WORMSIDE AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY – PLOUGHING MATCH Herefordshire Tel: Katie Dyke 07583 965281 Email: misskatiejanedyke@gmail.com www.ploughmen.co.uk 5th October THREE COUNTIES PLOUGHING FEDERATION – PLOUGHING MATCH Church Farm, Darrington, West Yorkshire WF8 3BH Tel: Debbie Savill 01777 838720 / 07870 397486 Email: debbie.savill@btinternet.com www.ploughmen.co.uk 5th-6th October TRUCKFEST ORIGINAL Newark & Notts Showground, Newark NG24 2NY Organised by: Live Promotions Events Ltd Tel: 01775 768661 Email: info@livepromotions.co.uk www.livepromotions.co.uk Admission: Advance Adult £16, Child (5-15) £8, Family (2+2) £40 On the day Adult £20, Child (5-15) £10, Family (2+2) £50…

28th November – 1st December WORCESTER VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS FAYRE City Centre, Worcester, Worcestershire Tel: 01905 726311 Email: christmas@worcester.gov.uk www.worcesterchristmasfayre.co.uk 30th November LINCOLN AUTOJUMBLE Hemswell Cliff, Gainsborough DN21 5TJ Tel: 07720 950920 Email: info@lincolnautojumble.com www.lincolnautojumble.com Admission: free, parking £2 Opens: 6.30am-12.30pm 30th November STEAM WITH THE TEAM Abbey Pumping Station Museum, Corporation Road, Leicester LE4 5PX Organised by: Leicester Museums Technology Association/Leicester City Museums Tel: 01162 995111 Email: enquiries@abbeypumpingstation.org www.abbeypumpingstation.org Admission: Adult £7, Concs £6, Child £3, U5s Free (Advance discounts available) Opens: 11am-4.30pm 30th November - 1st December CHRISTMAS MARKET Papplewick Pumping Station, Rigg Lane, Ravenshead, Nottingham NG15 9AJ Tel: 01159 632938 Email: director@papplewickpumpingstation.org.uk www.papplewickpumpingstation.org.uk Admission: (Annual pass) Adult £13.50, Senior/Student £12.50, Child (12+) £12.50, u12s Free (online discounts available). Non-steaming days Adults £4, u12s Free Opens: 10am-4.00pm 1st December…

As I write this on Tuesday 2 April our spring events are well in progress. I had the great pleasure to be part of the excellent National Vintage Tractor Road Run, which came to East Sussex for the first time ever, on Easter Sunday, based at Plumpton Agricultural College. The National is an event that Robert Coles and Ashley Godsall first staged on Easter Sunday 1987. Since those times the event has travelled to Cornwall, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales a number of times. In the heady days the event saw entrants coming over from Ireland, north and south of the border, to attend, which amounted, on average, to 475 + tractors, but that has dropped down to around 300 now. At the Henry Dixon, Pembrokeshire event there were over…

Clyde puffer Auld Reekie, aka VIC 27, may get into the spirit of the Scotch whisky industry, reviving the days of puffer transport by shipping grain to an Islay distillery and taking the finished spirit out. Restorer John Dunlop, who heads up the team of staff and volunteers completing the boat’s rebuild at his Crinan Boatyard, revealed that he’s been in talks with an Islay distiller on putting the 1943-built puffer to work. “Not only would it help remove the difficulties that ferry problems have thrown up for the distillery, but we’d be in tune with the distillery’s green and heritage credentials by providing puffer transport, and a puffer that will run on biofuel, too.” said John. VIC 27, sister ship to VIC 32, which operates puffer holidays and which…

Some 260 tractors had entered but by the time the event got going, it was nearly 300, with entrants coming from as far afield as Cornwall and Scotland, some 572 miles in some cases. During the Saturday evening event staff from the 2024 chosen charity, Chailey Heritage Foundation and its Patchwork Farm gave us an insight into their work. The Foundation is one of the leading centres in the UK for young people with complex neurodisabilities who mostly have cerebral palsy. Many have visual impairment and dual-sensory impairments and very few communicate verbally. The charity was started in 1903 by Grace Kimmins as ‘The Heritage Craft Schools and Hospitals for Crippled Children.’ Grace was passionate about helping children with disabilities. She took over a derelict former parish workhouse in rural…

The gears were very poor in many places and the gear teeth have been built up including the two pinion differential sun and planet wheels with new pins and bronze bushes. The crankshaft was in a poor condition and the bearing surfaces were built up with weld and turned back in the lathe. The main and second shaft bearings have been sorted out and the crankshaft bearings have been line-bored accordingly. As for the rear axle boxes, their half bearings have recently been white metalled at the Vale of Rheidol Railway by Llyr-ap-Iolo and look excellent. One has to say that the way Peter goes about his work is old school, but has its merits for keeping the engine in original style, as he would rather repair than have new…

Possibly best-known for being the last town in England before you arrive in France, relatively few visitors to Dover pause to consider its rich history as a port town and fortified defence since Roman times. Among all its attractions, only the 12th-century castle has widespread fame, but anyone with an interest in transport history ought to know about, and visit, the Dover Transport Museum. Inconspicuously located in an industrial estate in the village of Whitfield, just beyond the perimeter of the main town, the approach to the transport museum is unprepossessing, but the looming shape of St. Thomas lets the traveller know that he has arrived and is in the safe company of like-minded enthusiasts. St. Thomas, incidentally, is not a statue of Canterbury’s martyred archbishop, but a 0-6-0 saddle…

Specialised trench excavators, also known as trenchers or ditchers, largely took over from hand excavation in the 1930s and became very popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Before the advent of the hydraulic excavator and popular loader-backhoe in the 1950s, trench excavators were commonplace on industrial sites, road construction, housing developments and wherever pipes had to be laid. For the big cross-country pipeline jobs often many miles in length, and in the right geological conditions, nothing can compete with the continuous output of trench excavators. These high-output machines are manufactured by companies who have specialised in such equipment. In recent years, powerful ditchers fitted with special teeth have been developed to mill through hard rocky material without blasting. Trench excavators are available as wheel or ladder types. The former has…

27th-28th July ST BURYAN VINTAGE RALLY Trevorgans Farm, St Buryan, Penzance, Cornwall TR19 6HP Organised by: St Buryan Agricultural Preservation Society www.stburyanrally.co.uk Admission: None stated 27th-28th July WE’LL MEET AGAIN 2024 Bettenhanger Park, Sandwich Road, Deal, Kent CT14 0BF Organised by: The Hill 112 Memorial Foundation www.thehill112.com/1940s Email: annette@thehill112.com Admission: Advance Adult £10, on the day £15, Under 13s Free. 30th July-1st August NEW FOREST & HAMPSHIRE SHOW The Showground, New Park, Brockenhurst, Hampshire SO42 7QH Tel: 01590 622400 Email: info@newforest.co.uk www.newforestshow.co.uk Admission: See website for details. Opens: 8am-6.30pm 30th July-4th August MANX HERITAGE TRANSPORT FESTIVAL Steam Railway and Manx Electric Railways, Isle of Man Tel: 01624 662525 www.rail.im 2nd-4th August STICKER VINTAGE RALLY AND COUNTRY FAYRE Burngullow Park, Burngullow Lane, Sticker, St. Austell, Cornwall PL26 7EN Tel: 01726 189419…

1st September FESTIVAL OF TRANSPORT & AUTOJUMBLE Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire WR13 6NW Tel: 01484 667776 Email: info@classicshows.org www.classicshows.org Admission: Advance Adult £10, Child (7-14) £5 Opens: 9am-3pm 1st September CLASSIC & RETRO SHOW Himley Hall, Near Dudley DY3 4DF www.classicshowsuk.co.uk Admission: See website for details Opens: 10am-5pm 1st September TRACTOR & STEAM EVENT DAY Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway, The Warren, Bredgar, Sittingbourne, Kent ME9 8AT Tel: 01622 884254 (9am-5pm) Email: info@bwlr.co.uk www.bwlr.co.uk 1st September CTP AUTUMN ROAD RUN Salisbury Livestock Market, Netherhampton Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP2 8RH Tel: 07518 071092 Email: m.bailey1950@btinternet.com www.thectp.org.uk Opens: 9.30am - Move off 10.30am 1st September NORTH CUMBRIA TRACTOR CLUB - PLOUGHNG MATCH Cumbria Tel: Colin Hewetson 01697 323025 Email: shewetson1710@aol.com www.ploughmen.co.uk 1st September ROMNEY MARSH PLOUGHING & CULTIVATIONS SOCIETY Caldicott Farm,…

26th-27th October SPOOKY WEEKEND Elmham Valley Line Trust Railway Museum & Countryside Centre, Peene, Folkestone, Kent CT18 8AZ Email: Contact via form on website www.elmhamvalleylinetrust.org Admission: Museum Adult £4, U16’s £3, Family £30 Opens: 10am-4pm 27th October AUTUMN STEAM UP The Brickworks Museum, Swanwick Lane, Swanwick, Southampton SO31 7HB Tel: 01489 576248 Email: info@thebrickworksmuseum.org www.thebrickworksmuseum.org Admission: See website for details Opens: 11am-4pm 27th October ENGINES IN STEAM – LAST NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM Internal Fire Museum of Power, Castell Pridd, Tanygroes, Ceredigion SA43 2JS Tel: 01239 811212 Email: hazel@internalfire.com www.internalfire.com Admission: TBC Opens: 10.30am-5pm 27th October TWILIGHT RUNNING The Transport Museum, Wythall B47 6JA Tel: 01564 826471 Email: enquiries@wythall.org.uk www.wythall.org.uk 27th October HALLOW-E’EN - FREE HERITAGE BUS RIDES Oxford Bus Museum, Hanborough Station Yard, Main Road, Long Hanborough, Oxon OX29…

8th December CHRISTMAS SPECIAL Prickwillow Museum, Main Street, Prickwillow, Ely, Cambs CB7 4UN Tel: 01353 688360 Email: info@prickwillowmuseum.com www.prickwillowmuseum.com Admission: Adult £5, Concs £4, Child £5. Opens: 11am-4pm 8th December OPEN DAY / WINTER WONDERLAND South Yorkshire Transport Museum, Unit 9, Waddington Way, Rotherham S65 3SH Tel: 07828 068484 Email: Contact vis form on website www.sytm.co.uk Admission: Adult £7, Concs £5, Accompanied U16s Free Opens: 10.30am-4pm 13th December HUNGERFORD VICTORIAN EXTRAVAGANZA High Street, Hungerford, Berkshire RG17 0DL Organised by Hungerford Chamber of Commerce www.hungerfordextravaganza.com 14th December STEAMING DAY Markfield Beam Engine & Museum, Markfield Park, London N15 4RB Email: info@mbeam.org www.mbeam.org Opens: 10am-4pm Engine running: 12.30pm-1.15pm & 2.30pm-3.15pm 14th-15th December RIDE THE LIGHTS East Anglia Transport Museum, Chapel Road, Carlton Colville, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 8BL Tel: 01502 518459 Email: Contact…