Organ Update 43 (18/01/08)
History in Harmony UPDATE #43 Compiled by Boz Oram boz@historyinharmony.com www.historyinharmony.com Welcome to Update Number 43 – and a hearty welcome to all members new and existing on the History in Harmony Update. Please feel free to contact me at the usual address boz@historyinharmony.com and if others would like to join, then let them know and I’ll gladly send a copy out to them. All links and websites have been checked out beforehand. They should all work just at the click of a button from your mouse. Editorial and News Firstly, Linda and I extend a hearty and warm welcome to all in the year 2008. The Update was ready about a month or so ago, but I wanted to get some more topical events into it and then unfortunately I managed to get some virus that put me out cold. Ah the joys of being a human. Fortunately most of us have made it to this year and hopefully it’ll be what you wish for. Here in the UK, many different types of show have taken place throughout the country to keep us all happy while we wondered what to do during the Christmas/ New Year holiday break - road runs in Bedfordshire, organ recitals in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, open days at Preston Services in Kent, New Year road runs starting at midnight and others running at a more acceptable time of the day. The annual trip to Germany is taking place as I write this for the excellent Museums Tour and the Model Engineering Exhibition in Sinsheim. The Mechanical Organ Owner’s Society had its November trip over to Holland, Belgium and France and was almost over-subscribed, so an extended coach was used, which made getting into some of the medieval venues fun to get in and out in the narrow streets. Even though the wintertime is a period where many do their restoration or keep the damn thing going maintenance on track, there are plenty of things to keep us all occupied. Hopefully there will be the familiar restored items gracing our shows and festivals, but I also look forward to seeing newly restored machines and parts of our heritage coming into the fold. Carter’s Steam Fair has been at Warwick Castle for a month within the semi-sheltered castle walls, which became quite fortuitous, as there were tremendously high winds at the beginning of the event and the rides and machines could have suffered quite badly. Repairs of course could have been done in the newly designed and built workshops of Carter’s Fair, but that “keep the damn thing going maintenance” is rather a chore when there are other more pressing projects that need your time and effort. During their time there at Warwick, the weather forecasters were adamant that there was to be solid, heavy snow in the area for two whole days and as a consequence, brooms were bought and the alarm clock set throughout the night(s) so that the snow could be swept off the tilts of the various machines. As it happened, no snow fell……… which makes you wonder why we even have a weather forecast. Painting Courses Following on, Joby Carter is doing once again the winter painting skills courses that I believe have been yet again well subscribed to, however if you want to go on one, then I suggest that you apply as soon as you possibly can and put your names down for next year’s courses. There are only a certain amount of hours that can be devoted to this excellent pastime, as the fair also has to be taken out in the summer time. STOP PRESS! Continuing on in the Carter vein, the fair returned from Warwick Castle to the news that the Painting and Signwriting course now has two vacancies on the 21-25th January and the same on the 11th to 15th February. If you have the spare time to go to this, then do remember this is a fascinating course and something that you really won’t have the chance to do anywhere else. There are hotels, bed and breakfast and all forms of lodging in the area. If you also fancy, the area is also steeped in history, such as Windsor Castle and a short trip into historic London before or after the course. The English design of fairground art was done after years of trial and learning how to extricate hard-earned money from people’s pockets. Colours and the designs that ensued are the reason why the traditional fairground artist was always worth his weight in gold and their names still revered in all painting circles. To find out more, please contact Joby Carter on 0044 (0) 7889 775715 or on direct email joby_carter@yahoo.co.uk Winter Maintenance Time For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, remember that your part of the world is coming up to winter!! Vehicles Yes, restoration is a very time-consuming job and it is awful when a simple oversight can be the ruination of several years of hard work. Take for example the idea that you’ve laid up you lovely old motor vehicle with its leather seats and upholstery and you come along in the spring to have some fun and then you find that a mouse or something similar has made a nest and ripped all of the material or electrics to shreds. Do make sure that these unwanted varmits don’t get the opportunity of creating a misery for you by putting down some form of rodent repellent or maybe a trap. Also with engines, do turn them over to keep things free and easy. Clutches stick and water can condensate in all sorts of areas and make life more difficult when you want to have your pleasure. Batteries of course go flat and need charging – it also helps keeping them charged as they don’t die quite so quickly by lack of use. Steam With your old steam engines, its good to clean or pressure wash out the boilers and scrape off the soot from the heating surfaces, then coat those surfaces with hot, clean oil. You can use used sump oil, however it will also have sulphur and other corrosive properties in it and might eat the metal away over time. Those who are aware will have already done this, but I guess it can’t be a bad thing to mention this if you’ve just forgotten to do it. Remember to make sure that when you leave the mud hole door joints out, that you put a bit of gauze in its place to stop rats and other vermin making a nest in the foundation ring or worse still around the throat plate. Musical Mechanical organs actually like to live - even in the wintertime, so that means going out and playing them at least once a week. It keeps the valves free and any verdi grease and rust doesn’t have a chance to stick to the pins and rods that operate the instrument. It is also a good idea to have some form of gentle heating in the organ such as a greenhouse heater or maybe a lightbulb giving off a bit of warmth. That helps stop the damp getting in too much and jamming things up. By playing it on a regular basis, it also helps keep out vermin who don’t like the high-pitched sounds emanating from the pipes. Talking of vermin, do check behind places that you don’t normally see, such as the façade and ensure that you don’t have woodworm. There are many different ways of removing them if you have them, but one of the easiest ways is to get a pressurised aerosol varmit killer with a pointed nozzle to go into the holes and flush then out once and for all. For those who have the smaller instruments, you will normally keep playing them, so none of the above really applies, but it’s always nice to listen to your instrument… I see that the 1632 built windmill at Chesterton will hopefully be back in action in 2008 after a sail broke a couple of years ago. Well done to the enthusiasts who are dedicating their time to this worthy cause. I believe that it is be the oldest working windmill in the UK. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/moac/currentstudents/peter_cock/photos/chesterton_windmill/ Strangely enough, there is also a similar stone construction on Rhode Island in the US and bearing in mind that the person who supposedly built it also came from just outside of Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, then the coincidences are quite high – I leave it to your imagination and skills as a human to work out the answer. Newport Tower Rhode Island http://www.trochos.freeserve.co.uk/newport1.htm For pictures http://www.members.aol.com/wimtalk/NewportTower/newportTower.html Vehicle Restrictions around and inside London UK Within the M25 (the London orbital road) there are to be restrictions on exhaust emissions from vehicles that are more than three years old. Now if those vehicles in question don’t comply, then the vehicles can be stopped and told to turn around or even impounded. I believe that vehicles that come under the Historic Vehicle category may actually be allowed to travel, thanks to many showmen whose livelihood depends on going into London, but please do check with the authorities on this point. I am not sure how foreign vehicles are treated, as they tend to come under their own legislation and not ours. There are however an extremely high proportion of people whose vehicles do not come into either category and those who have purpose built them into exhibition vehicles, will not be able to exhibit in this area as the emissions will not comply. Now I guess that an exemption might be in order and it may have already happened, but if I am wrong, then please do check beforehand whether you can actually go into this area. I would hate to see people trying to promote our hobby and getting bad press publicity due to an oversight. Unfortunately, the Green Lobby, and the phrase “what’s your carbon footprint?” is becoming all the more familiar in the Press. The unfortunate thing is that our pastime is being cleverly eroded, the people who either enjoy the hobby, or have never seen it will never have the opportunity of partaking in a truly enjoyable leisure activity – just seems to be a shame. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/lez/default.aspx Cogges Farm Museum Witney in Oxfordshire is well known for its steam associations and is also well known for the Cogges Farm Museum that is one of the last traditional farm museums left in the country however it seems to be an unfortunate target for the governmental budget cuts and a shortage of £250,000 is needed to keep it going. The 20-acre site is alleged to be sold for housing, however the local newspaper, the Witney Gazette is trying to save the museum from developers. Further details from http://www.witneygazette.net/mostpopular.var.1879794.mostviewed.no_to_cogges_farm_museum_closure.php?act=login. With land at such a premium in the UK it is understandable that councils want to make more money to devote to the betterment of our towns and cities (I hope not squander it), but without the many quirky collections and a reason to go there, then the heart of the place goes and we end up with more feral towns. http://www.thecotswoldgateway.co.uk/coggesmanorfarm.htm Steam Coal I see that a new seam of dry steam coal is being scraped out in Wales. I don’t know what it burns like or what its ash content is, but if it is good, then maybe a bit of publicity might be in order, especially if it is smoke free, wouldn’t go amiss. If the magazines that report our hobby are correct, then they are saying that people are getting fed up with crappy smoke getting into their lungs and mucking up their clothes. The old answer of “well this is a steam engine rally and you must expect to have smoke” I don’t think holds up too well nowadays, especially as many people don’t know what a steam engine is anymore – and why should they especially as no one is promoting the hobby in the media anymore. The railway boys and girls manage to get pretty good quality fuels and they are trained in the art of firing a locomotive – those who make a living by using steam engines in public places also manage it very successfully too, so maybe it is about time to have a similar time for explanation to our road steam fraternity. I seem to remember a few years ago that quite a few skilled enginemen used the railway practice of putting a brick arch into their fireboxes; this helped with the combustion of inferior fuels reducing smoke and fuel consumption meaning that less time was used in shovelling coal. Steam Traction The US magazine Steam Traction edited by Richard Backus never ceases to amaze me. The magazine continually comes up with American steam farming teasers and looks for clues for various types of steam engines that have been lost in time and its amazing how familiar names like Derek Rayner and Michael Lane keep cropping up from the UK who are able to help in deciphering a part of a particular origin of a machine is. The world is beginning to get a smaller place as each and every year goes by and thank goodness that there are people out there who are prepared to pass on their knowledge to other like-minded people. One splendid feature is a continuation on the Thompson Road Steamer in America by Jack Alexander and another is Steam Schools for 2008, where everyone is welcome to learn about driving steam traction engines, there is another well-researched article on Thomas and Edward Wright, originally an engineer with William Tasker (local to me in Hampshire) and Aveling & Porter down in Kent. It is apparent that the original American design was from these early pioneers, however without the restrictions of conformity, they were able to expand on ideas to improve upon the original blueprint. Richard is also busily preparing the 34th Annual Farm Collector Show Directory that has some 1,400 plus shows to go and visit in the US. If you are going to the US this year, then this directory is a valuable asset for you to decide whether you want to go and visit some shows while you are there. Details from http://www.farmcollectorshowdirectory.com/ where you can order on line. Richard can be contacted at rbackus@ogdenpubs.com and he will furnish you with details of how to get Steam Traction in your own country. In the UK, it is sent out be the National Traction Engine Trust www.ntet.co.uk and I believe other societies elsewhere do a similar thing. Steam Schools in the US More from Richard Backus, editor of the American publication Steam Traction, http://www.SteamTraction.com, he lists many of the steam schools where the more professional members who have driven steam vehicles for a number of years, can help and educate the rest of us in the basics or even the finer points of steam traction engine driving. As we all know in days gone by, the drivers either already had experience from many years of using machinery or were taught how to drive them on common roads as a matter of course. Just letting any Tom, Dick or Harriden drive a large and expensive piece of kit without any previous skill, knowledge or experience just didn’t happen and neither should it happen in this day and age either. The courses are from the basic need to understand what goes on in a steam engine, how to look after one, what to do if anything goes wrong, boiler management and finally how to enjoy them to their fullest extent. This listing just covers the United States of America, but I am sure that there are other schools throughout the world (or maybe a few more in the States). Here in the UK it is private individuals such as Jonathan Wheeler http://wheeler-steam.co.uk/traction-engine-driving.htm who teach and of course the remarkably brilliant Steam Apprentice Club (SAC) http://www.ntet.co.uk/sac/home.htm sponsored by the National Traction Engine Trust (NTET) that teach youngsters how to drive and understand about steam engine management helps keep it all going. I guess there are similar groups on the Continent. Back to the US Here is a list of Steam Schools where Ladies as well as Gentlemen are able to go off and have the opportunity of taking a steam engine driving course. At the end of it, you will not be world’s best steam engine driver (so don’t be disheartened), as it takes many years and a lot of driving to accomplish the skills necessary to be totally competent – much like driving a car and that doesn’t come overnight however with a bit of practice, you might get the steam bug and we will then have a few more people out there enjoying themselves. Carriage Hill Farm, Metropark, Dayton, Ohio Date is 3-6th April 2008 and the class size is limited to just 40 people and costs $175 (well you didn’t think it was going to be free did you?) Remember that these are just over one date in the year, so if you really want to go on a course, then it is advisable to get in there early and secure your place. Now, these courses are put on to help you understand how a Chuffer Puff works, but remember that the whole point of keeping these toys on the roads and fields of the world is to also enjoy them – take note of what is said, but also make sure that you enjoy; meet people but above all make sure that you help other people enjoy it too. Back to the Carriage Hill Farm, further details from Nick Krimm, Carriage Hill Farm, Metropark steam group, 7600 Shull Road, Huber Heights, OH 45424 and Nick can be contacted by email at nkrimm@metroparks.org. 11th Annual Somerset Steam School (Somerset steam and gas engine assn.) Somerset, VA Date is 12-13th April 2008. Cost $75 Further details from Bill Roberts, 14375 Blue Ridge Turnpike, PO Box 492, Somerset, VA 22972. Phone (540) 672-2495. Email ssteamgea@gmail.com and their web is http://www.somersetsteamandgas.org Old Threshers Reunion Steam School Midwest Old Threshers Mt Pleasant, Iowa. Date is May 2-4th 2008. The Cost is $30 Further details Terry McWilliams. Public Relations and Marketing 405 E Threshers Road, Mt Pleasant IA 52641 tel (319) 385-8937 email info@oldthreshers.org and web http://www.oldthreshers.com 8th Annual Steam School Heritage Park of North Iowa Forest City, Iowa Date May 17-18th 2008. The cost is $25 Further details Jerred Ruble, Director of Shows, Heritage Park of North Iowa Project, 754 342nd Street, Hanlontown, IA 50444 tel (641) 797-2697 email ruble@wctatel.net web http://www.heritageparkofnorthiowa.com 8th Annual Steam School The Central States Threshermen, Pontiac, Ill Date May 17-18th 2008 the cost is $40, limited to 50 persons Further info David Schott, 620 S Vermillion St, Pontiac, IL 61764 tel (815) 842-3129 email dj2shot@verizon.net web http://www.threshermensreunion.org Rough and Tumble Steam School Historical Association, Kinzers, Pa Date May 17th and May 31st 2008. Cost $60 limited to 24 persons Further info John Johnston tel (717) 442-4249 email steamschool@comcast.net web http://www.roughandtumble.org Steam Traction Engineering Course University of Rollag, Minn Date June 14-15th 2008. Cost is $50. Tuition deadline April 15th Further Info University of Rollag, Tom Hall, Box 999, Moorhead MN 56561 tel(218) 233-1771 http://www.farmcollector.com/articles/steam-engines/steam-101-2001-09-01.html Steam School Wisconsin Historical Steam Engine Assn. Inc Edgerton, Wis Date September 26-28th 2008. Cost $50 Further info: Wisconsin Historical Steam Engine Assn. Steam School, Jeff Bloemers, W.4579 County Road F, Waldo, WI 53093 tel (920) 564-6292 email jbsteam@bytehead.com No website, but maybe this will give you and idea http://www.steamtraction.com/archive/3098/ Pawnee Steam School 2008 Oklahoma Steam Threshing & Gas Engine Assn. Date – to be announced Cost $25 Further info: http://www.OklahomaThreshers.org that I could not enter, however maybe going via another society link might help. To help Richard in compiling further steam schools in the US, please can you contact him at Steam Traction, 1503 SW. 42nd St, Topeka, KS 66609 email rbackus@ogdenpubs.com with your names of places where it happens. If you could kindly send me these as well as European Steam Schools and places of learning, then I’d be happy to pass them on to you all. SS Nomadic Update The last vessel from the White Star Line known to survive, also famous for another vessel from the fleet, RMS Titanic is due to go into dry dock in January of next year with the intention of having her restored by the time 2012 comes along. This will celebrate 101 years of the Nomadic but also the fateful day in 1912 when the sinking of the Titanic took place. This year has been excellent for visitor numbers with some 17,000 people going to see it and looking at the exhibition held on board. The vessel is moored near to the Harland & Woolf shipbuilding wharf and the Nomadic Charitable Trust is trying to use where possible all the traditional methods of restoration and seems to be getting a lot of publicity in the now dubbed Belfast Titanic Quarter. Well done to the Trust and the Belfast City Leaders for putting their weight behind such a rewarding project. http://www.nomadicpreservationsociety.co.uk/ Continuing on in a Ship vein The Stern Wheeler, Delta Queen is under threat in the US authorities from not allowing the boat to renew its operator’s licence with the owners Majestic American Line. http://www.majesticamericaline.com/ It seems that the authorities do not recognise that ships built mainly of wood are just as safe as metal ones - in fact, it has been proven that wood floats. http://www.save-the-delta-queen.org/ The Delta Queen was built by Scottish engineers William Denny & Brothers around 1926 and has had a varied and interesting career such as running between San Francisco and Sacramento and then a military career with the US Navy during WW2 to ferry the wounded into San Francisco and has got the distinction of sailing through the Panama Canal in the late forties. The vessel has been sailing up the Mississippi for many years now and unfortunately the powers that be want to stop it continuing on. A knight in shining armour in the shape of Jackie Baillie MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament) http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/membersPages/jackie_baillie/index.htm for Dumbarton is heading a drive to save the 81 year old stern wheeler from the scrapheap with the help of a further 15 fellow MSP’s to back a motion calling for the ship to be allowed to continue steaming and Ms Baillie is hoping to put some pressure onto the US authorities to relax the so called safety rules that ground boats made mainly of wood, to be stopped plying their trade. Ms Baillie hopes to mobilise her own Council, the Scottish Maritime Museum, preservationists and other groups to help her in her quest to help the US authorities to change their minds. If you wish to help back the project, then please contact Ms Baillie either via the website http://save-the-delta-queen.org or directly via email Jackie.Baillie@scottish.parliament.uk It is a real pleasure to have people walking the corridors of power who have an interest in the fantastic heritage of our great and pleasant land. Good luck to her in her quest. More Boaty Stuff The Medway Queen also featured within the Update are now getting the help of High Street shops to help back their quest to get the ship back on the road (sorry - water) again. Companies such as Tesco, Marks & Spencer, HMV, Mothercare, Amazon and other people are helping with much needed funds to get the ship operational. It appears that a small donation is being given from the goods that are being sold at these shops. Further details from http://buy.at/meadwayqueen Future Tour Dordrecht in Steam http://www.dordtinstoom.nl/home_eng.htm A tour over the weekend 15th to 20th May, centred on the Dordrecht Steam Festival, or "Dordt in Stoom" as it is known locally. The festival is held on a bi-annual basis and is known throughout the world as one of the best examples of the joining of steam on land and water. The town of Dordrecht is also one of the oldest towns in Holland and is at the confluence of three of the major canal trade routes in and is the busiest waterway in Europe, which is why it is all the more surprising that a festival is able to be held there at all! It has to be seen to be believed. The tour starts with a visit to CRUQUIUS drainage pumping station museum. http://www.cruquiusmuseum.nl/framesenglish.htm This is a remarkable piece of engineering and unique in the world, but that it managed to survive the ravages of time and war is quite phenomenal. This pumping station is now the only example remaining of the three built between 1845 - 1849 with the engines designed on the Cornish principle, by Gibbs & Dean and then built by Harvey & Co of Hayle. http://www.cornwall-calling.co.uk/mines/harvey-hayle.htm Commissioner Antoine Lipkens designed the pumps, a separate item to the engine; these together with the beams and boilers were subsequently built in Amsterdam. The engine room is in the form of a round tower and around the tower, each of the eight pumps has its own beam and this is connected to the engines' central piston rod and then down to the cylinder. As the piston goes on its downward stroke, the pumps on the outside draw up water the upper level. Once this is accomplished, the piston then goes on its upward stroke by gravity, the pumps then fill up with water and the whole process starts again. The Museum also houses another beam engine of traditional design from 1828, which is operated by the use of compressed air, which gives movement to the whole proceedings. The Keukenhof Bulb fields http://www.keukenhof.nl/nm/english.html are world renowned in the horticultural circles and this show has something to suit all tastes in gardening, architectural garden features and landscape projects but the show is mainly about one of the most precious plants of all time – the lowly tulip that was so highly sought after at one time that whole family estates were used to buy just one bulb – nowadays, you can purchase all different types of tulip for a modest amount! We are lucky as this is the last weekend of their year that the bulb fields are open to the Public and it really is a sight to not miss. On to Dortdrecht in Steam, http://www.geerts.com/dordrecht/dordrecht-history.htm where the show has a fantastic Friday evening parade of traditional boats on the river - everything from rowing boats, sail, steam and diesel (screw and paddle). The organization of this parade must be a nightmare, with all the heavy river traffic going to and from Rotterdam and the Rhine - at times there are 'traffic jams' up to the standard of the Hangar Lane Gyratory System. The parade lasts for about 2½ hours which is most enjoyable both to the people on the boats and those ashore watching this incredible sight. The magical sounds of all the boats giving their 'welcome' call on the sirens coupled with the music from a steam 'calliope' drifting down the river as the sun begins to set, greets all the visitors lining the key side The party returns to 'Dort in Stoom' for full days’ visit, a ticket to travel on the steam train, vintage buses and boats on the river. You can use your ticket all day to visit the various exhibits scattered around the old town. A steam train ride to the bus garage to see the excellent model show and a tour of the power station: You could take the bus to the loading dock and travel by boat to the old town pier where some twenty plus traction engines could be found along the quaysides, plus steam fire engines, pumps, models and miniatures, the list is endless – even boilers with just a steam chime whistle attached to it! You can also explore the inner workings of many of the boats along the quayside and docks - some were offering short trips around the port area for those who wanted to use their round ticket. Here on the dockside we are privileged to hear fishermen's choirs singing traditional Dutch and English sea shanties from around the world. The atmosphere of this place is quite phenomenal, especially when you also meet up with other people that you have met in the past! Many tractors, vintage cars, barn engines, old lorries and a whole host of other street entertainment make it a must for any enthusiast’s calendar. Nearby is the Hoorn to Medemblik steam railway. http://www.museumstoomtram.nl/ Now the railway network hosts standard locomotives as well as Steam Trams and must be one the few places in the world that still operates these types of motive power units by steam and this is an optional extra for those people who want to go somewhere other than the Dordt in Stoom festival. Incidentally the town is one of the oldest cities of Holland and was at one time in its career a front line defence to the North Sea Nowhere is far from the water in the Netherlands due to the fact that so much has been reclaimed from the sea and one of the greatest engineering feats of modern times is the Afsluitdijk http://www.deltawerken.com/The-Afsluitdijk/119.html . It is said that God make the world and the Dutch made Holland and this construction just shows how if you have a mind to do something, then it can be done especially as two thirds of the country is below sea level. The dike keeps the North Sea out of the freshwater of the country and surrounds the Ijsselmeer http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9042090/IJsselmeer . The tour will spend some sightseeing and we will be stopping off at Enkhuizen, a very picturesque medieval port. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4thEQP56iM On the final day, a short trip to Delft, http://www.essentialvermeer.com/maps/delft/delft_in_vermeer's_time.html famous worldwide for its pottery and its pretty surroundings. Later on that day the journey will call in at the Bakkersmolen. http://home.hetnet.nl/~oostvogels/Bakkersm-eng.htm As the name suggests, this is a windmill and is a reconstruction of a traditional mill, but is built to modern height needs, which means that you can stand upright! Elsewhere in the collection are traction engines, a couple of mill engines as well as railway locomotives, oil engines and a whole host of other associated items. The tour includes ½ board (bed, breakfast and evening meal) the use of an air conditioned coach, cost of passage to and from Holland and entrances. After the cost of the tour, all you need is a passport and a few beer tokens. There are some other fantastic venues to go to this year – there is the tri-annual Waldkirch Organ Festival, Cologne Model Railway exhibition, Les Gets, Berlin, and a whole host of other places. Linda will be back from the tour to Germany and if you wish to contact her, then please do so. Further details from tours@historyinharmony.com The Old Mill Steam Run Previously reported in the History in Harmony Update, the Old Mill Steam event took place. Grateful thanks to Peter Hammond for the inspiration in writing this. http://www.steamscenes.org.uk/ Over October 20/21st, the annual steam run from Holbury in the New Forest took place and this year with 23 full sized steamers, eight miniatures and two mechanical organs and the backing of SODEM too as well as some brilliant sunshine and excellent publicising, the show was to be a great success. On the run itself, 22 engines plus five miniatures took to the roads on the Saturday after having the band Lady Winwoods Maggot, the next day going off to New Zealand and then being supervised by Mark Wilson whilst out there. He was to stay till the end of this particular show then fly out on the Sunday night – forget about jet lag or hangovers; I was surprised to hear that he was still alive! Yes the road run is to me the highlight of the event – the beautiful New Forest with the sounds of the first mechanised machines rumbling through it once again. There are plenty of places that are so photogenic that you’d be hard pressed to take a poor picture on the 12 miles or so of scenic beauty and with only one engine staying behind due to its steel wheels and the very hard roads that are now “a must” for local councils, making the driver think twice and stay behind and welcome the public at large to the evening’s entertainment. Engines from other countries (well really the Isle of Wight) – in fact the one in question, a sentinel waggon was used exclusively for transportation during the Suez Crisis when the clever government suits made it difficult to be nice to each other. Out of the twenty or so steamers, many were able to take a trailer and collect for CLIC Sargent, the charity associated with helping children with cancer. Robert Coles brought his specially designed trailers from Dorset and a whole host of other people brought their own and charged a fiver to go around the trip with all monies going to this excellent charity. In fact there were other incidentals such as someone swimming in the sea (brrrrr) and someone else eating a jar of pickled onions (phwooooorr, hope he wasn’t sharing his sleeping accommodation!) What with Graham Spencer music emporium whizzing around all of the stops on the route with his Koeningsberg, de Harlequin joining up with the ex Jeff Shackell 87key Gavioli back at the Old Mill, the evening again had live music to finish off with a musically inspired firework show. Yes all of the stops pulled out yet once again and I am told that it will take place again next year in the third week of October. It seems that this type of show is now becoming more familiar and well done too as the Public at large are not necessarily going in their masses to the organised shows. Wroughton The Science Museum’s Store Collection housed in the disused airfield near to Swindon seems to have lost a televised chance of getting a Lottery Grant – “The People’s Millions”. Even though the “Inspired” theme for the collection is to be the National Collections Centre for all National Collections in the UK, it seems that even though the carbon footprint was minimal and was going to give Swindon a fantastic heritage centre, the other contenders, who it appears already have been given many millions of pounds Sterling, are to receive even more due to the TV company deciding what was more viewable for their viewers. The Store at Wroughton has many large hangars that house aircraft, road transport from all areas, the first hovercraft from Sir Christopher Crockerell, the first Trans Antarctic Crawler and a whole host of other unique examples of a fantastic heritage that needs to be seen by the people who have already paid for it. It is one of the few places that have the capability of guiding youngsters into science and technology in the UK. I do hope that sense will prevail and the money will be forthcoming. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/in_pictures_technology0s_hidden_past/html/1.stm http://www.petergoodearl.co.uk/laceygreen/days/wroughton/hangerd4/index.htm London’s Musical Museum http://www.musicalmuseum.co.uk/ For some 43 years, the collection has been housed in Brentford’s St George’s Church, but after years of trying to get a heritage lottery grant, they secured one and were finally able to look into the future and finally display the collection in a purpose built Mechanical Music Museum just down the road at 399 Brentford High Street. Its Grand Opening will be in the spring of 2008, however it has already had its first official opening on the 27th November where invited guests and sponsors were able to view and see the new building and its displays. On three floors, the collection goes from the smallest clockwork musical boxes to the mighty self-playing WurliTzer and most indoor mechanical instruments such as red roll reproducing pianos, orchestrions, violin players as well as the world’s largest collection of historic music rolls. The collection aims to try and show the instruments in their original setting, but also how the instruments and accessories were originally bought. The trial and tribulations with builders going into administration, the need for a giant lift to get people and exhibits to any floor, contractual delays between builders seems that the volunteers and team went from one drama to another, however that was another story, to hopefully be told to the rest of us so that we might not fall into the same pitfalls! The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11.00 to 17.30hrs and disabled access is available to all floors. There are also various workshops on restoration of instruments such as recovering bellows, vacuum action, pressure distribution and plenty more that is a must to anyone with a musical instrument. They also have a collection of music rolls for pianos (88 – 65) orchestrions etc. If you are in the area, do pop in and support this excellent group. Opening times and prices Autumn-Winter 2007/8 The Musical Museum at 399 Brentford High Street, Brentford TW8 0DU is open Tuesday to Sunday each week from 11.00-17.30 (last admissions 16.00). Standard entry is £7.00; Concessions (UB40, Student card, Pensioners): £5.50; Children under 16: free (but all children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult). Pre-booked parties of 25 or more are entitled to discount. There is disabled access to all areas. Its telephone number is 020 8560 8108 and further information can be found on its website at www.musicalmuseum.co.uk Travelling to the Museum Train: from London's Waterloo Station to Kew Bridge. Turn right when leaving Kew Bridge Station and the Museum is about ¼ mile west of the station. Underground: District Line to Gunnersbury, then 237 or 267 bus alighting opposite the Museum. Alternatively, Piccadilly Line to South Ealing, then 65 bus alighting outside the Museum Bus: Buses 65, 237 and 267 pass the Museum. Car: The Museum has limited car park spaces and parking in Brentford High Street is restricted. Additional parking is available in North Road or Potteries Road to the west of the Museum. Coach: Coach parties must be booked in advance Afterthought I almost forgot, not more than a stone’s throw is the Kew Bridge Pumping Station that opens on a similar basis. Here you will se the beam engines that used to pump water for that area of London. There are also diesel engines that took over as well as electric motors. http://www.kbsm.org/ A well enjoyed day can be had with both of the collections and you may find out that you really do not have enough time to see both fully. What are we sitting at? Most of us use a keyboard – the characters might be different depending upon what part of the world you live in, but basically they are all the same…. QWERTYI happened to wonder about the typewriter, its origins, where it came from and bearing in mind that every single one of you has one of these things in front of you when you first accessed this, then here’s a bit of history to go with it. The story unfolds that back in the 1800’s in the Untied Kingdom, there were 2,000 female clerks, but by the time of the 1850’s the number had increased to a much higher figure of 160,000 people; by the time of the 1880’s, we were getting a mature, industrial technology more and more into the workplace and one of the major advances in this area was the humble typewriter. Amazingly, it is quicker to type than write and of course as we all know from the doctor’s written scribble – illegibility had finally become a thing of the past. The first typewriter is thought to have been William Burt’s 1830 typographer, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Burt however in 1873, US company Remington designed and built 1,000 machines (that looked as if they had come out of a sowing machine factory) and virtually sold the lot instantly because by this time, banks, insurance companies and other institutions were springing up everywhere and needed a machine to pass on paperwork. Originally the machines were of the invisible type – ie due to the mechanism, the paper went into the machine and the key punches came upwards hitting the paper from underneath, which meant that the typist couldn’t see what had been written – a bit awkward if you’d made a mistake and couldn’t see it! A bit of lateral thinking and along came the visible type, which was better of course, however wires that operated the keys obscured the paper, so in actual fact, you weren’t that much better off. Shortly afterwards, the horseshoe style typewriter evolved where you could see what you’d written as well as you could make sure that what you had written, was what you wanted to see. Originally they were ink charged, but the idea of a black ribbon took over as well as the shift key giving the operator more functions ie capital letters, £ or $ signs and different colours if need be. Along came the Edwardian era (la Belle Epoch or just after the turn of the last century) and the typewriter http://www.answers.com/topic/typewriter?cat=biz-fin became a sturdy and dependable and efficient machine albeit rather noisy. Now here I have recollections of going to the St John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford back in 1990 and seeing a lady literally attacking a typewriter. Now I had seen computers before this time and so this was quite a novelty and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She literally took a deep breath, raised her arms and hands and then launched herself into the machine with the force and tenacity of Hannibal crossing the Alps. The energy that this typist must have used would have been phenomenal and the clackety-clack of the keys onto the paper and roller must be one of those rare sounds that maybe a younger generation will never ever hear except in a black and white movie. Since then, I haven’t seen one being used by a professional typist, but know that writer Chris Edmonds used one until the day he died and the great astronomer Patrick Moore still uses one dating from about 1907. The design of the keyboard There were two types that were vying for position the DIATENSOR and the QWERTY layout. The first one was designed with the most used keys being close together and at the bottom of the operational area, however the QWERTY layout was an engineer’s design to stop the keys jamming up if they were too close together. For the younger members of the Update who have never seen one, basically you have a horseshoe style chamber that has all of the letters of the alphabet, plus numbers and other functions and they all have to arrive at one point on the roller where the paper is positioned to type the words. If the machine jams up by too many keys arriving at the same time, the operator has to un-jam it; this takes time and reduces the words per minute (wpm) and ultimately the wages earned by the typist would reduce. The design was so that the keys came onto the roller from either side of the chamber and the risk of jamming would be reduced. QWERTY won the challenge by the fact that you were able to remember the keys more easily than the other contender. Amazingly, 60% of the letters used are on the left hand side and therefore 40% of the usage is on the right hand side; now bearing in mind that many more people are right-handed, had the letters been the other way around, would the speed have increased accordingly? Who knows, but being a dyslexic left-hander really doesn’t get into the words per minute record books! The female population took over the workplace from the 1880’s and it was known as the white blouse revolution, especially when Pitman shorthand was taught to speed up dictation. I started learning Pitman shorthand years ago but got really confused with it all especially as I already had problems just learning my own native tongue; it is of course a written language that few people use anymore, but a great way of writing down stuff if you don’t want anyone to understand what you have written! Returning back to the tripe writer, a good typist would be doing 120wpm but of course nowadays, I would hope that the figures are much higher as there is less force to be exerted and nails can of course be grown longer! Initially, the secretary brought the social life of home into the workplace with the upstanding standards that homelife entailed, however things fortunately changed when “working late” could also mean “playtime!” in the rudest sense of the word. The pay differential between men and women was truly phenomenal with men on average earning up to 50% more than women for doing the same job. Now that one I’ve never worked out and due to the general ignorance of some males at that time, gave rise to the independence of women. In 1903, Emily Pankhurst, leader and figurehead of the Suffragette Movement found that the typewriter was now going to become the biggest in all of the political tools especially with the many pamphlets and books that were going to be written to prove their case. Oh how the world was going to change and all because of the typewriter. Moving on through the decades, the typewriter and its users increased, however changes in electrics and electronics gave a new impetus to the typewriter. In the 1970’s a new machine came into the office – the word processor. http://www.answers.com/topic/word-processor?cat=biz-fin was still a typewriter, but now operated by touch rather than bashing several barrels of SH-one-t out of your fingers! I remember seeing my first WP and it had what was known as a golf ball that whizzed around a breakneck speed and managed to type your words onto the paper still on a roller in front of you, however you were also able to check your words before they went into print. This was the first time I think that you could do this. The computer then came onto the scene and this is where we are now. It has its advantages by one person being able to run a whole business from it and with the internet, pass on information to other people; it is easier to operate than the old typewriter that according to some people, was supposed to be consigned to the dustbin, however there are also down sides to the computer. Computers and their operators now generate many millions of tonnes of paperwork and operate by trying to create fear within the community. Most of the paperwork that comes through the letterbox is consigned to the bin; precious little paperwork is written on the reverse side and even less is actually looked at by a human before sending out as either junk mail or even more importantly from financial institutions. How they can send out reams of paper and not know what they are doing just shows you why the Banks are in such a shaky position. The other thing is that all emails are open to being read whilst out there in the ethos – in other words, your words can be intercepted very easily. The typewriter – is it dead? Strangely enough, the answer to the question is “no”. There is a retro feeling towards the typewriter and a few youngsters are using the typewriter as a novelty, but more to the point, many more people are using them to protect themselves as the written words can’t be traced by the excellently named thought police who make sure that our freedom of speech is forbidden. Assuming that the Postal Workers do not go on strike and your letter is enclosed by carbon paper, then no one can read the contents except to open the envelope, which as we all know is fortunately still (but time will tell) illegal. So there you have it, a little bit of information about the thing that you are sitting in front of right now. LATEST NEWS – Assen NL Assen will have no new mechanical organ museum. After incessant and above all, laborious consultations it is now clear that the municipality of Assen has no interest whatsoever to preserve the museum of mechanical organs. It is a pity that so little effort in put in such an important piece of cultural heritage. It has to give way to the only thing that seems to be of importance in our present world: money and power. If no ways of rescue are found, the museum will definitively close its doors from April 1st 2008. I picked this up from their website www.draaiorgelmuseum.nl CCP Thanks for that CCP – Just a few words about the museum I think. The museum in Assen has a considerable collection of mechanical music and I believe it is the largest in the large sized organs with upwards of about 30, maybe more. Rare instruments – plenty, but as we know, the Councils do not necessarily realise the potential of these fantastic collections, which is a shame as the whole area could benefit. We wish the society luck and hope that what the Museum in Haarlem went through a couple of years ago, may give confidence. Utube Yes, yes! You like Utube like so many other people and many of you have asked for more things to look at from my point of view! Here are a few that might tickle your fancy………. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QQzbCmlZM4&mode=related&search= Dancing the Boogie. Now the fellah driving the piano makes it look so easy, and the couple dancing do a similar thing – however that’s what music is all about! Right, here’s a few tunes, some from shows, others are especially for video usage, however, they are just there for you to enjoy. Thanks for the comments about the previous video clips. The whole video explosion fascinates me - don’t let me hold you up – press the buttons. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TULYBRHBAs Makin’ Whoopee from the film, the Fabulous Baker Boys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4kR8OQCrlQ Christina Aguillera Candy Man An excellent video that must have cost a fortune to make – the picture quality is unfortunately a bit raw, the sound however is excellent. Somebody decided that this was a rip off of the Andrews Sisters Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, so the next is amalgamation of the two. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpg5OfHg3wY Christina A and Andrews Sisters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIkaTFGOsDU = Gwen Stephani. Now this is one that I just thought was fun and worthy of passing on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMDcOViViNY Kaiser Chiefs Ruby. Again a very clever video – I guess that CGI is used extensively in it as the little people may have got crushed and been a bit chewy!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZVWkuxKhCE Jennifer Page Crush – Animated but I think better than the original video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG2hGSL345I&mode=related&search= Part 1 William Tell Yes the tune that shows who remembers music from TV and who can remember what the title really is! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D5SDGjRidY Part 2 William Tell is the completion of the whole thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q78US4Gu5A4&feature=related is the version from the Film Brassed Off and just does the Lone Ranger part. For those who need a fix of a choo, choo train, here’s one in the States going by a level crossing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAjl8mlGZHw&mode=related&search= This one in at the Grand Canyon Double Heading where a good bit of whistling takes place – the locals must like the sound! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P0wgjpoQDw&mode=related&search= Happy Days! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwChst3WPvU&feature=related Lionel Ritchie on Helium http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=549P2XRImUc Pavarotti/Cocker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29zQGhnKQck A bit of snow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QenN5DVuLtw&feature=related New Zealand Snow Steam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZTYEU8kg48 Settle & Carlisle Rail in Snow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdEvYSauRDA Journey to the GDSF The Jack Wharton Road Run Previously published here in the History in Harmony Update, the run from Fairford to the Great Dorset Steam Fair took place with plenty of steam engines rumbling through the countryside of England and many of them had to do quite a long journey beforehand to get to the allotted place before even starting! Amazingly there were also three agricultural engines on the run, which over a 100-mile distance isn’t the easiest of things to undertake when travelling at about 4mph maximum! My journey was that much easier as the engine in question was a steam tractor that can motor on at a good pace – must be the reason why they managed to get a Gold Medal in 1907, however I wasn’t able to start at Fairford as the low loader that was going to get the engine there was unable to make it. I picked it up from near to Basingstoke and took it across the hills and valleys to my home to then make some adjustments and a special towing hitch for a rather small trailer (the butt of many jokes). Continuing on……… that evening after I’d got Len and Rob, the local blacksmiths to sort out a towing arrangement for the trailer; I took the wheeled monster around the village to test it! What for I ask myself, but you know how it is – a bit of steam and fun in a thatched cottage village – what more can a man ask for! We have a very narrow back road called Gangbridge Lane and this runs alongside the Bourne (a seasonal river that dries up in summer/autumn and flows in the spring). Well I met two vehicles – one a male who just saw me coming and found an entrance to go into and a female who had the most enormous 4X4 vehicle. She carried on and then realised that as I had the monster trailer behind me, she would be the one who had to reverse. Poor thing - I don’t think that she had ever reversed a vehicle in her life. The distance was no more than 25 feet, but the time taken meant that I had to put more coal on the fire to keep it from going out! Got back to base and did a few adjustments and made sure that all oilers were working properly after the day’s journey and that nuts and bolts were tight as the canopy was going to be a useful piece of kit should it rain. That night Colin turned up and an impromptu recital of the organs to him and his Pop before he went home then it was time to go for a bit of refreshment in the village pub before winter comes and the smoking ban in the UK really takes effect. Next morning, cleaning the engine and getting it ready for its intrepid journey to go westwards and meet up with the other steam engines going to the Dorset Steam Fair for the Jack Wharton Charity Road Run meant that we had to leave our nice creature comforts and rumble off up out of the village and then along the plateau to Andover where we managed to skirt the town and get on our way to Ludgershall where we trundled through the militarised medieval town to stop at a hostelry and get some lunch and water for the engine; there was a wedding group having the customary pint or two before the nuptials and two grubby urchins enjoying the sunshine. I gave a lump of coal to one of the guests to give to the Bride and Groom and she, the recipient then explained to us how being given a nugget of coal was supposed to bring good luck and a healthy marriage. Off we went past all of the military railway sidings and then across the Salisbury Plain, the UK’s largest expanse of land that is specific to the Military. We had a couple of helicopters and planes buzzing us, but I guess they were more intrigued with the lack of excessive speed so I guess were using us as testing equipment for different types of vehicle. Who knows, but Colin and I are still alive and the engine doesn’t have an Exocet missile stuck up its backside! Went past the Trenchard Lines and through the old military base that now hosts the flying club and gilding boys. We filled up again (wasn’t too sure where the next water would be available if you’re following this on a map) at Upavon from the river. We met a chap whose father had organised a show a few years previously and was able to talk about chuffer puffs in good detail. We then left the village and took off on the Devizes road. Yes that was nice going along roads that I haven’t been over for many years and forgetting what to expect made the journey all the more interesting. We turned left at Chirton and took a scenic route through to Easterton where we stopped and took refuge in a local pub and cooled down with an ice cold drink. It was later on that I was to learn that the temperature in the rear of another engine’s cab was up to 117°F (and that was without the firehole door being opened). We left there and took to the open road and had loads of cheering and waving and wishing us luck for our journey from the local population. By now it was only 1½ miles to our destination, but we were I have to say, a bit shot to bits with tiredness so it was good to finally stop at the Churchill Arms. What a sight! Every available bit of space taken up with an old steamer in every conceivable space however there was one small area at the back. Fortunately, the Burrell is quite small and manageable so could nip through to the back of the park between two engines and then plop itself into bed! One engine was having a bit of TLC on the small end; somebody suggested that my scary trailer should have a bit more air in the tyres so someone in the pub came along the next day to pump them up. That night we had excellent food and auction with the star prize of a day at the Williams International Racing Team headquarters in Wantage (courtesy of Mike Lewendon). A few hundred pounds were raised here). The next day, this time courtesy of Bob Garnet’s coal, we were able to steam to the beautiful downland area of South Wiltshire. All the engines left except for King George VI crewed by Stan, Charlie, John and PK and us. We both filled up with water and set off. Tragedy……. (well not really tragedy but “damn” seems more apt). The big end oiler cap flew off and we had to stop and find it. Fortunately, we were at a set of traffic lights and could jump off and try and locate the offending article. Eureka!!! A bit of PTFE tape later and we were on the road again with Georgy Boy behind us. Oiled up again and out of West Lavington – unfortunately in the time that it took to find the cap and then oil it up again, the fire had gone a bit lazy and we had a pile of cars behind us to get out of the way of. Yes you guessed it, to get out of the village is a lovely long hill and all I can say is that we managed to get to the top but had to remake the fire. George had two living vans on behind it so was slower on the uphill than us so by the time they had got to us, our fire was made up again and now beginning to make steam again; we followed and were a little bit slower on the downhill and flats, however made it up again on the hills. So it turned out to be a cracking run that was just brilliant and so enjoyable. We crossed the Plain in no time at all and arrived at Shrewton to stop and have a cool drink for John’s other engine Eynsham Hall, an 1887 built Marshall traction engine, today being driven by Mark. We stopped a few miles later for lunch at the Swan at Stowford – the hotel was closed but opened up especially for us for lunch – yes there are some really nice people out there. From there it was the first bit of fast road – the A36 into Salisbury and on a road like this, however we are easily overtaken but of course it takes only one slow and inexperienced driver to make a traffic jam. Once into Wilton, we went up the hill, past the racecourse and down the other side to go and take the Chalk Valley route to Berwick St John. Normally this route is empty of traffic, but today was to be the world famous Gurston Hill Climb, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08ypAiPKSgU full of fast vehicles competing against a hill. I can’t say I understand it too well, even though I’ve run a bar there, but who cares – each to their own. Well we were trundling along this narrow road with combine harvesters, tractors and the returning public and competitors from the GHC coming in the opposite direction. Now every local who uses this road is used to steam engines using it and drive accordingly, however the non-local interlopers had no such regard so the journey was quite a test of competent driving skill! We went past the entrance to the GHC and suddenly the traffic stopped and we were able to take in the beautiful Chalk Valley and then arrive at Berwick St John to fill up with water in the village. Amazingly the three engines mentioned, all arrived at the final destination at the same time even though the speeds are so massively different, but I guess it is all down to driving technique – in other words a plodding slog or in our case a slodding plod. We all filled up with water for the next day and gave the village a nice sight of engines going up through the village as it would most likely NOT have been done in their working days. That night, Richard and Mary Pocock had got the village into reception mode and put up a tent full of beer and outside an open lamb roast on a spit. I have to say, I tried my best to eat and drink as much as I possibly could, but tiredness got the better of me and finally had to bite the bullet and go to the little sleepy hollow that I was to call my home for the next few days. The next day’s journey wasn’t too long – just a mere 15 miles, but the roads quite exciting to say the least. Leaving the farm, we went along the road to cut across to Win Green Hill. With the living van on the back it was more sensible to take it a bit more easily on the engine so second gear was chosen. Loading the fire up at the bottom, we took off with the living van trailing behind up the hill. You could feel the heat coming off the smokebox at the front, but what a view at the top. Supposedly it is the highest point in Dorset and you can see for miles and on a clear day see the Isle of Wight. The next part of the journey is basically downhill which meant that the need for water in the boiler and coal for the fire was minimal – really three shovelfuls of coal and a quick squirt of water. For some strange reason I wanted to fill the water tanks up with water, even though we hadn’t really used any – must have been a premonition. There are only two places where water can be taken on the whole route; the first one had a car parked over the fire hydrant and the second on the narrowest part of the road. God help the locals if they ever have a fire there. We left it and decided to go the Great Dorset Steam Fair instead. Yes we were within four miles of the show and after registering in; we went straight to the water supply. NONE! Such is life, you can’t expect miracles, but maybe in future a specific place or tanker could be permanently on standby in a specific place. After placing our living accommodation in a suitable spot and then getting a lift to a point of collection, the day ended up really well. I have to thank Team Wharton for the really enjoyable journey and for Colin helping me on the Burrell. The next day I took off to London to drive for Carter’s Steam Fair. What on earth was I thinking when I agreed to do this task – I was burnt, bruised, exhausted, sprained and basically worn out, but a journey in a Scammell or two with a substantial load on the back is enough to get you back into trim! Yes Battersea Park is the loveliest place to enjoy, but I remember in the past seeing so many coaches parked there with visitors to London, but today just one coach all day long. I guess Red Ken Livingstone’s attempts to stop people coming into London are working well. In fact, I’ve just realised that the place I really started from was Victoria Park in Hackney to then get to Hammersmith – just shows you doesn’t it. Fortunately it was only a shortish distance, so able to do quite easily, but as Joby was trying to get down to the Steam Fair too, it meant all hands to the pumps, which must be the reason why I agreed to help in the first place. Back at the show Not content in just driving many miles to the show, we also then did a bit of collecting for CLIC, the charity for children’s cancer. http://www.clicsargent.org.uk/Home Down in the steam engine movement, we collect for this charity as all of the proceeded actually go to the charity and children in need rather that to pay for the rental of a wastepaper bin in London’s