Here’s an interesting thing that top local history monkey [Howmuch?] bought at a book fayre last week. It’s the program for the Fourth Annual Steam & Vintage Vehicle Rally, held by Chasewater Light Railway Society on the weekend of 21st & 22nd June 1980.
I know this will probably be of interest to Chasewaterstuff and Oakparkrunner particularly – but I’m hoping some of the adverts will stir memories, too. Sunday dinner at the Wilkin for £3 a pop all in, Geoff Parker Models and the Steam Railway in the Arboretum Extension – whatever happened to that, eh?
I would also be nice to see folk’s comments on the exhibits, what and who’s still around. There’s also an amusing bit of sexism in the description of the auto jumble.
Click on the cover to download the booklet in PDF form, and cheers to the boy [Howmuch?] for his lovely scans.
A fine bit of period nostalgia. Click to download a version in PDF format. Thanks to Howmuch? for the donation and scans.
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I don’t recall this event specifically, but I know I’ve been to a few rallies at Chasewater. One thing I do recall is that my father and I had been for a walk in the Peak District and on the way back through the Yoxall or Kings Bromley area we happened upon a field full of traction and stationary steam engines. Fairground music added a to a jolly atmosphere. The show was winding down, but a few vehicles were still going through their paces. The most remarkable thing, for me, was a “tug-of-war” between two engines. The “rope” was nothing but a length of domestic string, the sort you used to put round brown-paper parcels. I’ve no idea how long the contest lasted, but it was much longer than even my wildest epectations. Power built up, smoke belched from chimneys, the engines rocked to and fro, wheels slipped, but eventually the string snapped and both engines lurched backwards while the drivers frantically throttled back and applied the brakes (a sort of slow motion emergency stop). To some extent it was tribute to the drivers’ skill that it lasted so long, but the string was clearly taking a lot of strain. Wouldn’t mind seeing that again!