Social Evening Talks 2007
At The White Horse, Pleshey, Near Chelmsford

Social Evening Talk   January 10th
by Pat Freeman and Michael Pumfrey. 
The EATES Chairman, Sue Doncaster, was due to give a talk at the first Social Evening in 2007 on January 10th. However, during the course of procuring spares for her Sentinel she met Vernon Smith of Pickering, North Yorkshire, who volunteered to take her place and give a talk about his two cherished girls, Charlotte and Elizabeth. Sue was happy to accept the offer and her talk will take place later on in the year. 
   Charlotte, a 1929 Dennis Charabanc and Elizabeth, a Bus converted from a 1931 Sentinel Steam Waggon, always cause a stir whenever they appear on the streets of picturesque Whitby carrying passengers, both young and old. 
   The two vehicles operate under the banner of the Northern Star Motor Carriage Co., a business set up about three years ago by Vernon and his future wife, Viv, to enable visitors to Whitby to see its sights in vintage style. 
   Charlotte, right from new, had catered for the tourist trade, initially operating in the Great Orme area of North Wales and, from 1957 to 1971 was touring throughout Europe. After that she spent a considerable time in a barn before being beautifully restored by Dick Martin and John Marshall. Vernon had watched Charlotte's restoration with interest and together with Viv, foresaw the possibility of building a business around her and, shortly after the restoration, persuaded John to sell it to them. The Northern Star Motor Carriage Co. came into being and then, in January 2003, Vernon and Viv saw the opportunity of widening their tourist operation by acquiring a Sentinel Steam Waggon, No.8590, with the aim of converting it into the world's only six- wheeled steam bus. 
   Little did they guess the problems that would be encountered, and the struggle it would be to find a way through the maze of rules and regulations relating to the construction and operation of buses in this day and age. 
   In order that Elizabeth could carry fare paying passengers she had to meet a number of conditions under Construction and Use. One of the major hurdles was that a bus is only allowed to exhaust from the rear or from the front offside to the rear, but of course a Sentinel Wagon exhausts from the front and it was impossible to adapt it. There was also the argument that the chimney between the two windscreens impairs the driver’s vision. The only way around this was long negotiation with the Department of Transport which resulted in an amendment to the Road Traffic Act to allow her to be fully certificated. 
   The bus body itself had to meet many conditions, related to things such as the spacing and arrangement of the seats, and even the filling of gaps between seats and bodywork thus making it difficult for pickpockets to operate successfully. Another stumbling block was the provision of Disabled Access, but this was dealt with under an age-related exemption. 
   Then, before Elizabeth could be finally certificated, she had to undertake a full stability test at Plaxton’s Ltd at Scarborough. The test involved weights totalling 64kg for each passenger and crew member strapped to each seat to represent a fully loaded bus. She was then subjected to a 35 degree tilt (each side) without the chains around the axles becoming tight.

     

   Although the examination and testing of Elizabeth was completed successfully in October 2005 the amendment to the Road Traffic Act did not actually become law until December 13th 2005 and Elizabeth's first day in revenue service was Boxing Day, December 26th 2005. 
   After the talk and question and answering, which was thoroughly appreciated by all present, a 50 page booklet was made available. This makes very interesting reading as, not only does it give a run down on aspects of Charlotte and Elizabeth, but it also highlights the picturesque Whitby. The text is supplemented by numerous colour pictures. The booklet is available from Vernon Smith, 2 Alma Way, Pickering, North Yorkshire, YO18 7JH priced at £2.50, post free. 
   The next part of the story is the building of another steam bus to work alongside Elizabeth. Rather than altering another existing steam vehicle, Vernon explained that they plan to take a redundant chassis of some kind, to which will be added a boiler and steam engine from something else, to provide a unique, custom-made vehicle. Judging by the success of Charlotte and Elizabeth, the new bus will be very busy transporting the tourists and steam enthusiasts who visit Whitby. 
   Vernon mentioned that the Sentinel build from Waggon to Bus was sponsored by 'Old Glory' and, following Vernon's talk, the Editor, Colin Tyson, kindly emailed the following:- 
 "We wanted to do something practical that would bring the magic of road steam travel to an everyday tourist service, and what better location than the historic harbour at Whitby, North Yorkshire". The Old Glory-sponsored bus, owned by Viv and Vernon Smith of the Northern Star Motor Carriage Co, has been rebuilt on its chassis to a bus format. The result is a beautiful creation by Dick Martin, Viv and Vernon – all from John Marshall’s ‘back of many envelopes’ design. Vernon Smith said: “The stability test at Plaxton’s marked the biggest milestone for us yet in what has become an extraordinary journey. We were told 18 months ago that a steam bus would never be able legally to carry passengers. Now we are reaching the final certification prior to the first trip, we are thrilled and cannot believe we are finally here.” Based opposite Whitby’s lifeboat museum, the bus gives up to 10 tours a day for visitors, daily from Easter until the end of October. The adults love the nostalgia; the kids love anything bright and red, giving cries of ‘Look, it’s Elizabeth’. The fact that Vernon drove the ‘Hogwarts Express’ (GWR Oulton Hall on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway) in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone always goes down well. If you fancy helping to steam Elizabeth around the old town of Whitby and up to the cliff top, then try a full or half-day Steamy Daze Firing Experience. For further details ring 01751 470184 or email: steamydaze@aol.com

     

Social Evening Talk   February 14th
February's monthly Social Evening  featured the projection of a couple of reels of cinefilm, taken by EATEC member, Peter Milton, over 30 years ago. 
   One was of a very muddy 1975 Stourpaine Rally and the other, which was  received with a great deal of nostalgic utterings by those present, showed several of the EATEC's 'Old Guard', such as Ollie Taylor and George Swann, taken with their engines in the 1960's East Anglian Rallies 

Social Evening Talk   March 14th. 
'My Life as a Blacksmith' was the title of the talk given by EATEC member, Harold Clements, at the March Social Evening. The meeting was well attended and the talk was much appreciated by all present.
   Harold said that he went to Rainsford School, Chelmsford, and his best subject turned out to be metalwork. It seemed that it was only natural that he began a four-year apprenticeship with a Mr Rolfe, a Blacksmith at Aythorpe Roding. As part of his training he spent one day a week at a Blacksmith 's shop in Tindal Street, Chelmsford, where he became very efficient at shoeing horses.
   On completion of his apprenticeship, he went to work at Plant Hire, Chelmsford. About 35 years ago, Harold heard that George Hassler had retired from his work at Pleshey Blacksmith's shop and he acquired the business. This entailed horse shoeing, ornamental iron work, the repair of agricultural equipment and structural engineering such as making balconies and special window frames. He soon became established as a highly proficient iron worker and he went on to do jobs in such places as the Bank of England and the Tower of London.
   Perhaps the best example of his work that can be seen by the public is a wrought iron railing surround of a tree planted in St James's Square as a memorial to Yvonne Fletcher who was shot and killed during the Iranian Siege in the Square.
   In April of this year Harold will retire, passing over the business to his son, Ian, a well-known practising Farrier and to Shane Rayner his assistant for many years.

Social Evening Talk   April 11th
'Fifty Years with Empress' 
by Sue Doncaster.
Garrett 4CD Tractor Empress, No.33829, Reg. BJ5157, came out of the Leiston Works in June 1920 and worked in East Anglia all her life. She has been in the ownership of the Smith family of Inworth for the whole of her fifty years in preservation.  Empress was last rallied in 1979, when her firebox was condemned following an outing to the Long Melford Rally. Sadly it has taken until now to find the time and resources for the rebuild needed to make her serviceable.  Hopefully she will be seen around the rally fields in a year or two when work is completed. 
   Reg Smith named the Garrett  Empress. In 1920 the unnamed engine was supplied   to C. Maidwell of Great Finborough via George Thurlow of Stowmarket, Garrett’s agents in the area. In 1925 she was working for Stennett of Middleton Hall and by 1935 she was with Blackwells of Earle’s Colne. After fifteen years hard work contracting, Blackwell’s two Garretts were pensioned off and replaced by a Marshall tractor. The fate of the second Garrett is not known, but Empress stood in Blackwell’s bus yard for a number of years.
   In September 1955 the Smith family returned to England having lived in South Africa for six years. John, at twelve years old, was already familiar with steam being the proud owner of a pre-war freelance model since he was three.  His father, Reg, had started with steam as a boy hauling water and coal for the ploughing engines on his father’s farm. Later, when farming was bad in the twenties and thirties he drove a grossly overloaded Foden overtype wagon to supplement the family income.
   Empress was soon spotted redundant in the bus yard and after some lengthy negotiations she was bought by Reg in June 1957, along with a Fowler steam plough cultivator. The plough was sold on, totally offsetting the cost of the Garrett. The engine was towed to the yard at Inworth behind the Marshall tractor which had replaced it.  Three days later, with the help of Charlie Button from the Essex Steam Rolling Co, the engine was steaming round the yard.
   John and Reg took her to Stisted Rally in 1959 and after that, with a break for retubing in the mid-sixties, Empress was to be seen about locally until 1979.  Now, moved to Ardleigh, she is completely stripped down. Work on repairing the boiler barrel is well advanced and a new firebox and tube plate sit in the workshop waiting to be fitted. It will be a while yet, but Empress will be on the roads of East Anglia again, towing a Garrett living van to rallies and driven by John and me.

Social Evening Talk   May 9th
May's talk was given by Mike Smail, the proprietor of The White Horse at Pleshey, about some aspects of the History of Pleshey and its Castle.
   All that can be seen of the castle today is a splendid motte (mound) with a moat, over which is a graceful, single-span bridge of the late 14th century; an inner bailey (wall) enclosing some 2¼ acres and an outer bailey encompassing the whole village. Pleshey is one of a handful of villages in England still surrounded by its medieval fortifications.
   Mike mentioned that in the very early deeds, The White Horse is referred to as an ale house named The White Hart. He said that there was evidence in the construction of the building that some of the wood used was taken from the castle when it fell into disrepair in the 15th century.
   Mike described in detail the history of the castle from the time it was built, mentioning its various owners, especially Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, who inherited the estate in 1375. He sadly fell foul of his nephew, King Richard II, who plotted his arrest and shipment to Calais in 1397, where he was murdered a year later.

Social Evening Talk   October 10th
Following the summer recess, the focal point of the Social Evening was the showing of a cine-flim of steam rallles and other events in the 1970's era. Several clips of film had been collected by Tim and Robert Clarke and about an hours viewing was enjoyed by a good crowd of Club members and friends.

Social Evening Talk   November 14th
More than 30 Club members and friends enjoyed the showing by Club member Peter Milton of some of his very interesting video shots.