Full steam ahead

THOUSANDS of people attended the eighth Fawley Hill Steam & Vintage Transport Festival held over the weekend.

The event was held at the estate belonging to Lady Judy McAlpine.

She had said that last year’s would the last but was persuaded to stage one more to celebrate her 80th birthday.

“It was very good, some say the best yet,” said Lady McAlpine.

The festival featured a range of vehicles, including steamrollers, vintage tractors, cars, buses, bikes and motorcycles.

There was also a flyover by some First World War aeroplanes.

Visitors enjoyed rides on a 1942 steam locomotive, King George, from the estate’s Victorian railway station and track built in the Sixties by Lady McAlpine’s late husband, Sir William.

The estate has the steepest standard gauge track in the world and a private railway museum, which was open to visitors throughout the three-day festival.

Other attractions included a fairground, clothing stalls, live music and catering from the Crooked Billet in Stoke Row.

One of the highlights was a military vehicles display in which Lady McAlpine was given a ride atop a 1979 Panzer PZ68 tank.

She said: “You have to anchor yourself, then it is fine and fun.”

The tank’s owner Mark Walker, from Witney, said: “Judy said I couldn’t come unless I brought the tank.”

He bought the tank some years ago and recalled: “I made direct contact with the Swiss government when I heard they were selling them off and replacing them with Leopard tanks.

“I bought one exactly the same as this but sold it. Then I thought I shouldn’t have sold it so I got this one.

“I deal in machinery, a lot of which is for earth-moving, so it’s a natural thing to play with something on tracks.”

The Panzer was designed in 1968 and Mr Walker’s model was manufactured in 1979 and rebuilt in 1988 to withstand chemical weapons.

He said: “I had to sign a piece of paper that says I’m not allowed to sell it for military purposes.

“It has to be kept in museum conditions. Everything is there — all the pickaxes, the spades, everything except for the machine guns. And, of course, I have no shells.” Despite the hot weather, some exhibitors were dressed in period clothing.

Members of the Red Line Home Guard Living History group were dressed in the wartime uniform of the Territorial Army.

Re-enactor Mike Quigley said: “We are a new group, established in January. We’re portraying the Home Guard that protected the red stop line, which was from Abingdon to Tidmarsh, in 1940.

“We were there to stop a German invasion from the south getting into the industrial heartlands in the Midlands.”

The group took part in the military vehicle display, which included vintage jeeps, vans and lorries.

Richard Beddall exhibited a 1939 Mercury Eight series that was driven by George Formby while touring to entertain the troops during the war.

Stuart Wilkinson, chairman of the National Transport Trust, which displayed the vehicle, said: “It’s an American car which was imported as a saloon by Malcolm Campbell.

“He was a racing driver who held the water and land speed records. When he was on speed record attempts, his sports crew used this.

“Then in 1942, Formby and his wife went to North Africa to entertain the troops. Formby was a ukulele player and singer and entertainer and Campbell essentially lent him this car.

“So this went around North Africa, Sicily and Italy during the second half of the war.”

Luke Wingfield, 22, from Wokingham, was displaying the steam tractor that he inherited from his father.

He said: “It’s a Burrell Gold Medal tractor built in 1912 and his name is Charlie.

“My dad bought it in 1989 and then restored it over time to what it is now and then passed it to me in 2012.

“I rebuilt it all again with a new boiler and a few bits of paintwork. We took it and found that it was too noisy, so we took it back off the road again and put a new set of gears on it.

“It’s British engineering, which was what our country was. We designed it, we built it, we used it. It’s nice to still see them about.

“We get mixed reactions driving around. Here it’s all cheerful but on the road, it can get interesting sometimes.”

There was a number of novelty vehicles, including an orange bubble car from the Seventies and a motorised bed.

Jack Marcham, from Woodcote, was driving a mobile pub bench complete with an umbrella and Guinness number plate.

He said: “It was an eBay purchase. We take it to all the shows and rallies. People love it. They take pictures and everything.”

Visitors enjoyed posing for photographs with a lifesize model of the Tardis from Dr Who, which was displayed by replica maker Liam Redmond. He also had a large model of a Dalek. Mr Redmond said: “I bought the Dalek and I have done it up — the same for the Tardis.

“I’ve got another full-size Dalek at home and in the car park there’s a Doctor Who van which is also mine so I’m obviously a big fan. I’ve also got K-9 at home and a Cyberman.

“I got my first Dalek about 10 years ago and it just sort of took off from there. The Tardis normally sits outside my house.

“I’m also a member of a group where we recreate our own fan films and make all our own props.”

The Solent Veteran Bicycle & Tricycle Club displayed a number of vintage bicycles, the oldest of which was made in the 1800s, as well as Raleigh Choppers from the Seventies and Eighties.

Dave Gray, a member of the club, said: “Everybody in the club collects vintage bicycles. We started off on the south coast, hence Solent, but now we’ve got members everywhere. We do social rides. There’s one at Benson which is a costume ride and everybody gets dressed up.”

Mr Gray said his favourite bicycle was a child’s French Michaux built in 1869 with wooden wheels with iron rims.

He said: “Michaux was the man who put pedals on them. This is the kiddies’ one and is probably the only one left.

“A few of us buy them to stop them going abroad. The Russians were buying a lot of them for a new museum before the trouble in Ukraine kicked off.”

The festival was in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance.