A Charity Registered in England No. 296027
After the recent success of the last few road runs that the East Anglian Traction Engine Society has staged we were all holding our breath hoping that we had got the mix of engines routes and venues just right to give our drivers, marshals and the general public a really enjoyable weekend. When we returned from the engine drivers briefing on the Thursday night I knew that it was to late for any of the committee to change anything and that we would just have to hope that all the planning over the past months that Kevin, Duncan,Paul, Barry and all the others put in would pay off.
Friday
Our journey had actually started the previous Sunday when Garrett 4CD steam tractor No. 33296 left its home base in Haddenham to steam as close to Sapphire road run route so we could join in on route.
So after a weeks rest for the engine it was an early start on Friday the 19th of May from a yard in the nearby village of Thurlow we steamed the 10 miles or so to the lunch stop at the Lion public house in Stoke by Clare where we had arranged to get there as early as possible to help sort out where we were to position Mike Hickford and his crew with the old Clare fire engine making its first outing since extensive restoration. We were met by the landlord and his wife and a few early marshals, but no fire engine. Soon we could hear an engine coming which we thought a bit strange as it was still early for any of the engine participating in the full run as it got closer we could tell by its exhaust note that it was a Foden wagon having deduced this we were soon joined by our Presidents Foden wagon the Icklingham Flyer. They had made very good time indeed as they were one of the faster engines taking the slightly longer route starting from Barry Freemans Yard in Ford End.However I have heard that they needed to make a telephone call in Finchingfield to Newzealand to ask directions from the Hawkins family veterans of the Three Counties Run.
It was not long before Mike Hickford and his crew turned up with the old Clare fire engine, just in time as no sooner had they set up there were engines starting to arrive all wanting water before the parked up for there lunch. Engines and crews were all well fed and watered all bar one who appeared to have gone AWOL. Several reporters from the local press and TV news appeared talked and interviewed some of the drivers and many photo's were taken. It was soon time for the off as we still had several miles to go before reaching our destination Richard Webbs yard in Acton. We were on of the early engines to leave the lunch stop as we had been there since just before 11 o'clock we headed off at a fairly good pace with our newly restored Dyson trailer in tow after just a mile or so we caught up with the Freemans Burrell. We decided that it would be best to keep our distance and allow a good gap to help the traffic past easily, we were soon passing through the village of Clare with all of its quaint old houses. As some of you might know there are some parts of the road through Clare that get quite narrow where we had to really on our marshals to make sure that there was no oncoming traffic, the did a great job with getting us through. There seemed to be quite a few people lining the streets around the market square and a school party which appeared to come out to have a look as the engines passed. Before long we were back on the open road the Garrett was going well all we had to do was follow the Burrell in front of us.As we rolled into Cavendish we saw the Burrell peel off for water again supplied by the Ex Clare Commer which made a fine site just outside the Sue Ryder museum. We still had plenty of water to see us safely through to the end of the first day so we continued this time at a slightly better pace soon passing Glemsford station and then the town gates of Long Melford soon we were passing the green in Long Melford where we were again met by quite a few spectators. It was then just a case of negotiating the narrow turn past the Bull pub and onto Acton. Having crossed the Long Melford bypass where we were again glad of the marshals, we were soon drawing into Richard Webbs yard we detached the trailer and turned around ready for the off the next morning. As the rest of the engines arrived we were treated to afternoon tea courtesy of Mrs Webb a cup of tea and a slice of cake was very welcome at the end of quite a long day. As the stragglers arrived I was aware that we were still two engines short Melvin Camps Super Sentinel wagon and Gareth Jones recently acquired Aveling tractor which was been driven by Martin and Della Fagg. Just as I started to phone Kevin Swann our Chief marshall Melvin arrived explaining that he had to drop the fire and start again as it was not steaming very well. Still no sign of The Aveling tractor the rumour was that they were having problems getting the injector to work Kevin Swann had used up all his Wimbish magic (tricks learnt from his father and some of the other Taylor's drivers over the years) blowing steam back into the tender to try and shift any debris in the injector.They had been on the road a long time since there 8 O clock start and had done well to get as far as they did. So Simon and Richard took the lorry out to pick them up.
Saturday
We started out from home about 5.00 am to get steam up for the off at about 8.00 and some breakfast from the local transport cafe. Before long the sound of a dozen or so tube brushes and the talk of the day ahead were the only sounds heard as the engines were ashed out cleaned up and prepared for the slightly shorter but slightly more challenging day ahead. Some were busy tinkering with minor faults from the previous day.
It was not long before most the engines had left except for the Aveling tractor which by this time had been stripped of its injector filters and was starting to steam ready for what should be a better day than Friday fir the crew. I soon was off to meet up at the lunch stop as I had been turfed off the Garrett as Amy my wife was crewing with farther. The engines passed back through Long Melford then onto Stanstead and Hartest a quite nice route as it is all leafy Suffolk lanes which gently undulate a better test of driver than the day before which was mostly on the flat.The engines soon started to arrive at Whepstead our lunch venue where we were all supplied with a nice ploughman's lunch thanks to Sue and her gang of helpers. It was a tight squeeze to get all the engines an articulated water tanker, cars and a coal lorry all into a smallish car park but with help from our excellent team of marshals and some good driving by the lorry driver some of the engines towing loads we all got in and had an hours rest and some food. We were again starting to lose our engines as they started off on there second leg of the day as they steamed off up the road and into Horringer and through to Westly where the is quite a steep hill. Many drivers said that it was a big wheel hill but I understand that there was more than one engine either changing down half was up or crawling the last few yards on the button. The engines were then on the home straight through Risby, Cavenham and then onto Icklingham for the evenings entertainment. I dashed off in the car off the route to arrive at our presidents barn to see the engines arrive
As the engines arrived and engine men swapped stories and experiences of the day we were soon all in the barn enjoying the festivities where we all had rather a good party am planning to add some more photos of some of the engines on the road as I did not have much chance to take pictures on the road I am also looking for write ups from anybody else who took part in any way. The last thing to do is to thank all those people who gave up there time to get involved and helped make this event the success that it was especially the marshals who did an excellent job even if one marshall started directing the engines towards the local pub rather than Duncans!!
