Entertainment galore at vintage weekend

MORE than 180 classic cars will be on show at the Fawley Hill Steam and Vintage Transport Festival next weekend.

The event will be held on the estate of Sir William and Lady McAlpine from Friday to Sunday, May 20 to 22.

The cars will competing for the Total Trophy, presented by auctioneers COYS. On each day the public will be asked to choose the classic car that they have enjoyed the most at the event and the winner will be presented with the trophy for the day.

The festival will also feature 80 traction engines in honour of Sir William’s 80th birthday as well as steamrollers, commercial vehicles, tractors, steam cars, vintage and veteran cars, a military display, tanks, fire engines, shire horses, camels, railway engines, a vintage fairground and market stalls.

A fun dog show will include a bid to set a Guinness world record for the largest ever gathering of Labradors at 1pm on Sunday.



This will be adjudicated by adventurer and television presenter Ben Fogle, who owns Labradors and has written a book on the history of the breed, and his father Bruce, a veterinarian and animal writer.

The proceeds will go to Medical Assistance Dogs.

The festival will begin with Rock on the Hill on Friday evening with a performancre by Ben Portsmouth, an award-winning Elvis impersonator.

Radio presenter Mike Read will also introduce acts such as Chas McDevitt and MP4, a rock band made up of four MPs who only perform for charity.

The evening will begin with a champagne reception while the fairground is still in operation, followed by a buffet supper provided by Paul Clerehugh, of the Crooked Billet in Stoke Row, so that guests can eat and dance when they want. A raffle during the evening will raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Rock on the Hill, which was last held in 2014, will raise money for the Flying Scotsman Trust, which will distribute profits to charities.

Lady McAlpine said: “We have a fantastic collection of vehicles coming to a great party at one of the wackiest estates in the country.

“It’s exactly what it says on the tin — every sort of transport from camels to Spitfires.

“It’s a celebration of British engineering but it does so happen that this time we have quite a big collection of classic American cars.

“It’s quirky in as much as it really is a bit of everything, and quite a lot of everything, with more than 80 traction engines and and 30 steamrollers. Everything is pre-1966.

“Above all, it’s going to be fun and it’s always educational for kids because they see how things have developed and we need to get them into engineering because British engineering built the world as it is now.”

For tickets, call (01491) 571373 or visit www.fawley hill.co.uk