Great Chesterford Steam-Up
October 1st 2005
by Pat Freeman
This 14th Annual Steam-Up took place on the streets
of Great Chesterford, an event reminiscent of times gone by when almost
every village had some sort of celebration involving the inhabitants.
Traditions die hard and it was a
pleasure to wander along the streets to see vintage cars, tractors and
the like, parked alongside the pavements that were alive with interested
spectators, whilst full-size steam engines and scale models were on view
in the car park of 'The Plough' public house or steaming around the streets.
Children were well catered for by the Perrett’s traditional funfair on
Horseriver Green, adjacent to the main street which was closed to passing
traffic, and Stationary Engines occupied the Coronation Green.
I arrived early for the 12 o’clock
start so I called in at the nearby Springwell Farm, Little Chesterford,
owned by Robrt Pumfrey the President of The East Anglian Traction Engine
Society. This was an overnight assembly point for several engines and it
was a delight to watch the preparation work going on before they set out
to steam the couple of miles to Great Chesterford.
Two Showman’s engines were there,
Margaret
the 1922 Burrell, No.3926,
owned by Keith Honour and the 1927 Foster, No.14589, Lord of the
Isles belonging to Frank Waling. I spoke to Frank as 
he
was polishing his lamps and he told me he became the owner of the engine
when his father, Arthur Waling, died in 2001 aged 101.He also said that
his son preferred fishing to mucking about on engines but his grandson,
Andrew, would follow in his footsteps, as could be imagined when watching
him energetically cleaning the brass work of Lord of the Isles.
Three other engines at Springwell
Farm were: Success the 1914 Ruston, Proctor traction engine, No.50278,
owned by the Pumfrey family, the 1914 Aveling & Porter Lady Lucy
road roller, No.8361, belonging to Darren Swain, and Chris Brighty’s Aveling
& Porter D type steam roller, No.11804, Emerald Rose.
After the short run to Great
Chesterford they met up with Barry Peacock’s
1920
Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies traction engine Garioch Queen,
No.31298, the 1903 Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies traction engine, No.15278,
Chieftan
, the Fensom family’s 1921 Garrett tractor, No. 33991,
Patricia
and Richard Hazell’s 1934 Sentinel S8 waggon, No.9105, which is the only
S8 machine in existence.
Amongst the vintage tractors on
view was a brilliant yellow machine with a
tricycle-wheel
arrangement. This type of tractor was named 'The General',
and was manufactured in America by the Cleveland Tractor Coy. for distribution
through Massey-Harris outlets in Canada and parts of the USA, during a
two year period ending in 1941. They never carried the Massey-Harris name
and were painted in the yellow of the Cleveland Tractor Coy.
This
particular machine is owned by Glen Culpin who acquired it six years ago
and this year he restored it to full working order. It was towing a trailer
on which was a 4½” model Burrell made by his father, David, over
a six year period.
Stuart Lindsey of Ickleford was
touring the streets on his 4½” scale model Burrell which he has
named Verena after his mother.
A car of note was a very large 1917
2 seater, LaFrance Roadster with a 14½ litre engine. The badge on
its radiator stated Elmira, LaFrance, New York, and with its open body,
two large Vesta headlamps and wooden-spoked wheels it created a lot of
interest.
Also on show was a 1929 Ford Phaeton
Model 35A which was imported into this country on November 10th, 2003.
There were two fairground organs
and two hand-turned street organs in action and 
fish
and chip and hot dog stalls catered for the inner-man, making the whole
rally a real treat, not only for the various enthusiasts there but also
for the many families having a good day out.
The only income from this Steam-Up
was that gathered from donation buckets and from raffles at the various
stalls, yet the amount collected was a healthy £1500 or so which
will be given to local charities.
Thanks must be given to the firm
Chesterford Park and other local businesses who sponsored various aspects
of the rally.
