Wreathed in smoke...

... and smiles. It's clear just how much the people who own and care for the exhibits at these steam fairs love and are passionate about steam and machines.  They spend hours polishing them, oiling them, sprucing them up - and equal numbers of hours chatting and comparing notes, beer in hand. There are a few women (wives and girlfriends, perhaps, working on the principle "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!") but it is mostly blokes, for whom clearly this is an all-consuming hobby.

From consternation to celebration

More from Chipping Steam Fair.... This huge traction engine, an 1889 Marshall engine named Mary Margaret, was a star exhibit. Owned by M Davison, it usually 'lives' in Co. Durham at the Beamish Museum. It had been planned to demonstrate how it could power a saw mill. These big steam-driven machines were mostly used to pull heavy loads or to run agricultural machinery, by means of a continuous leather belt attached to a flywheel. They were first produced in the 1850s and their use had died out in the UK by the 1950s, though many have been preserved and maintained by enthusiasts. 

The day was dry and bright but the previous few days had been wet and the ground was soft. This massive machine (which weighs 10 tonnes) therefore had a great deal of difficulty manoeuvring and its huge wheels were sinking into the mud. There was much consternation, and then a great deal of effort and concentration, using wooden sleepers to try and gain some purchase on the turf. Eventually - celebration! They got it into place and attached the huge belt from the flywheel to the circular saw, which was powered up. It then sliced through enormous tree trunks like they were butter. Aside from a pair of goggles, there was not much 'elf and safety' in evidence for the operators!

Traffic light colours

Possibly my favourite photo of the steam fair batch (which goes to show how bad the rest are!) I liked the shapes and the red, yellow and green primary colours, like traffic lights... and it all reminds me nostalgically of my dad's garage, somehow.

Bored?

All dressed up in their overalls; not sure if the blackened faces were earned or just for show! The kids looked a bit bored though... Perhaps, if dad is a fanatic, they have to spend a lot of weekends at steam fairs...

Green Panther

Chipping Steam Fair - This metallic green was a thrilling colour. I like the abstract image but the whole car - a 1974 Panther J72 - was rather thrilling and beautiful too. It was for sale; it could have been yours for a mere £27000!  Though how you drive one on the road, heaven knows... Imagine trying to turn out of a side road with that amount of bonnet (hood!) sticking out, before you could see what was coming! (Yup, I'm so practical...)

Steam fair

Earlier in the summer, I visited a steam fair in Chipping in Lancashire. It was a relatively small gathering but still quite interesting. There were more classic cars and old tractors than steam engines, but plenty of sideshows and lots going on.

I was very disappointed in all the photos I took. Sometimes you just get days like that, don't you? The sun was bright and it was quite a hot day, so there were a lot of harsh shadows to deal with and there wasn't much steam about; that's always much better when it's cold and the steam hangs in the air. At busy events I often find it hard to isolate the point of interest from the background. I'm rather shy of asking people for portraits and the candid shots I took were all pretty useless, seeming to catch people just when they were looking unattractive! Never mind, I'll try again another time. Learning all the time...

I'll show a few pictures over the next few days, just for interest, though they are not up to standard!