Trip
to Quy Country Fair
August
26th 2004
by Kevin
Swann
With the return of Garrett Traction Engine Felsted Belle,
No 32936, following major boiler work, it was spoken of completing the
job in the full and traditional manner, i.e. hauling a full threshing tackle
to the Fenland Country Fair (at Stow cum Quy, near Cambridge, August 28/29th)
and carrying out a Threshing Demonstration as she had done for over twenty
years prior to repairs.
Telephone calls were made to Richard Bourne, the owner of the tackle,
who without hesitation gave the reply 'YES' with one proviso 'CAN I STEER'.
During the following months, many hours were spent lagging the boiler
with wood followed by sheet steel and when April arrived, the warmer weather
allowed for painting to begin. Firstly etching primer, high build
primer followed by five coats of top coat, each coat being rubbed down
to create as good a finish as possible - hour upon hour under lights in
order to finish on time.
Her first official outing was the Thurlow Rally, the drive of approximately
14 miles from Wimbish was completed without a hitch; with Terry Young steering,
it brought back many memories of days-gone-by with my father-in-law, David
Nourse, when both Terry and I were much younger.
Following Thurlow was the Society Training Weekend at Stowmarket,
where she performed in her old true style, some of the pupils finding her
a bit of a handful at full pressure (160 psi). With he Bank Holiday weekend
looming ever closer, arrangements were in hand for her to be low-loaded
to Fordham, near Soham, Ely, where Richard lives. All arrangements
went like clockwork and we arrived in the evening of 24th August with the
trip all set for the Thursday (26th).
The day dawned with yours-truly arriving at 7.00 to be met by Richard
and Clare, the tackle set in their yard in readiness for our trip. By 7.30
the sheet was off and the happy sound of wood crackling on the fire was
to be heard. Many of the neighbours arrived to see the preparations. By
9.00 she had enough steam to move for coupling- up and with a final top-up
of the water in the tank, we made our way down the single- track road leading
to the village of Fordham, using one change of gear to climb and descend
the old Ely to Mildenhall railway bridge.
Once out onto the main road (A142) every other road user came to our
slow pace, 
with
only ½ mile before we turned onto B1102 which heads for Burwell,
good progress was seen, together with a number of camera’s recording our
movements. Our arrival in the streets of Burwell saw great interest
because here the valve which shuts off steam to the whistle fractured.
We stopped for repairs in a lay-by and Richard got a lift with a local
to an engineering workshop. I filled the boiler with water to get the steam
as low as possible (25 psi) before making an attempt at repairs. 
Before
Richard returned I had removed the broken valve, turned it around, by re-screwing
it from the whistle side, and shut off the steam. With repairs completed
and the fire made-up, 140 psi was soon raised and we bade our help goodbye.
Swaffham Prior was to be our lunch-stop and this was reached by 13.00,
our whistle problem only causing a loss of ¾ hour. Here arrangements
had been made for both the engine and ourselves to be refreshed, a hose
lay in readiness for water. The pub was full of people wanting to know
why and how far we were going. A number of society members having heard
of our trip spent their time with us. Just as were we ready for the 'off'
on our final leg of the journey, the pump emptied; with a uphill start
I set the crank so she would take steam for the right direction - I didn’t
want the EXPERTS to have cause to moan. She behaved like a tame cat and
pulled away with ease, the bark of her exhaust echoed between the houses
of the narrow street, on through Swaffham Bulbeck and journeys-end Stow
cum Quy.
With approximately 4 hours travelling time plus stops, I was very pleased
with our day's work. Richard remarked the day’s enjoyment was only
topped by that experienced when his wife Clare gave birth to their children.
The sight of the engine with tackle attracted many
people, both young and old. It brought out a number of the older club members
who worked with such tackle, it possibly being over 40 years since this
was a normal sight throughout the Fens.
Pictures by kind permission of Gordon Ridgewell.
