Remember the summer?

Now that is where we got to. Whilst Ed was in charge of 'Linkey', Chris and me were elsewear inspecting the plough. If the truth were known I think we were actually operating the plough.

In between engines and little noise, the sound of the plough turning the earth is magic. The engine is 'Sevington' sister and a pair with 'Linkey'

Remember the summer?

Let us cast our minds back to last summer, not one of the best I grant you, however just a reminder, whilst we are turning up the heating at home, of last September at Old Warden Park, Bedford. This is Mark,s friend from Land Rover, Ed on the engine 'Linkey' with Sam trying to negotiate the plough. Now Ed comes to one or two events in the year to get a bit of practice driving the Mack. So when we arrived at Bedford with a broken mirror and a puncture................

Never mind Ed, if you see this blog, Happy New Year to you.

Cheltenham Steam Rally

Well that all folks, its all over. No not the blog, the steam rally season as far as Linkey is concerned.

We all assembled at Cheltenham this last weekend. The rally site is part of the Cheltenham Racecourse overflow facilities right by the Gloucester and Warwickshire Railway. A wonderful setting.

The rally was fully booked and my young friend Matt Bisp and his Dad were not able to exhibit their little garden tractors. However they did come and visit us on Saturday and brought Mum with them. At the end of the afternoon, Matt had the chance to steer Linkey with me at the controls, then afterwards I let him have a go on my Ford 2000 tractor. I really think he enjoyed the day. Next year Matt you get booked in early!

The weather on Saturday was perfect, and much ploughing was done. Michael Davies from Avon Dassett in Warwickshire provided the other Fowler ploughing engine, 'Achilles'. John Garman presented the plough we used and we got on with it. The evening was cool, quite and we had a BBQ for several of us. Big Dazza was elected to cook and we all had a splendid time. I was the last man standing again, or at least I think it was standing.

However Sunday was the reverse. It rained and the day was effectively ruined. We had to take the engines out of a hole in the hedge and up the main road. Michael Davies's engine had that much mud on it that at 20 tons it slid across the road and up the curb. On witnessing this we cleaned Linkeys wheels so we did not suffer the same fate.

Anyway we all got home in good order and now looking forward to the steam boys end of season run on Saturday October 31st.

Steam in Cheshire

Sometimes it is difficult to get photos of Linkey in transit on The Mack.

I arranged with Matt Bisp from Rubery to wait patiently in a lay by for us to pass up the A38 towards the M5 from Bromsgrove.

Matt is a young man, who with his dad hopefully will be joining the North Worcestershire Vintage Tractor and Engine Club in January.

Well done Matt and thank you for the photographs. More will follow.

Matt is also going to start his own blog, so he will link with mine and then you will have two excellent and fantastic blogs to study.

Steam in Cheshire

Yet another little video of me on Linkey on Saturday morning.

Fortunately the weather was cloudy but kind all weekend and a good time was had by all.

Now this land I understand is owned by the NT, but managed by local farmers etc.

Mike Priestner is an excellent engineer and his yard and workshop have to be seen. This event however is private and is open to invited quests and their respective crews only.

On Sunday after a hearty breakfast, (no hangover!) I spend most of the day on the scuffle. This is an interesting agricultural machine and would you believe it is the first time I have ever handled it solo. I enjoyed this very much.

However Sunday afternoon arrived and it was time to clear up, load up and return once again on the M6, but this time it was a doddle, one of the best I have had on the M6 for some considerable time.

Steam in Cheshire

This last weekend, Linkey was on the way up the M6, with Mark Jones driving, Christopher Beale as passenger and me behind in the Disco.

Due to typical driving conditions on the M6 on Friday night it was passed 9pm when we pulled into Mike Priestners yard in Altringham.

After a welcoming plate of curry and chips plus a glass or two of ale we retired to our beds to restore our energy for the weekends ploughing and other work.

I spend most of Saturday on the engine as you can see here from the video taken on a simple Canon Pureshot camera by Chris Beale from Little Comberton.

We then roaded with other engines to the pub for a quite social interlude steam fashion before returning to Mike Priestners home for a typical steam gathering.

John Johnson from Banks in Lancashire brought down his organ and road locomotive, Mike had his showmans in steam plus three other engines including Linkey all in his back yard!

Mike's hospitality was fantastic, the spread was enjoyed by all and there was an excellent barrel of free beer to finish off. I sampled some other stronger European beers as well and needless to say it was a good thing I was not driving that night!

Bedford Steam and Country Festival

One of the main reason for going to Bedford was the return of the two sister engines, 'Linkey' and 'Sevington'. They have not been together for a number of years, let alone working together. Most ploughing engines were indeed made in pairs and this was the occasion to see them at their best.

I thought that I would publish the other photo of 'Linkey' loaded in the lorry park at Bedford on Sunday evening ready for departure.

The 'Mack' was driven by Ed, one of Mark Jones's work associates who has indeed got the appropriate licence to drive this unit. On arrival incidental we found that the Mack had a puncture in the rear nearside tyre. As this in an American left hand drive truck, the wheels and tyres are also American and non standard to this country. Fortunately it was the inner tube that had the puncture and a repair was effected.

Bedford Steam and Country Festival

These are two photographs from this last weekend in the Old Warden Park, Bedford. The one photo clearly shows the plough used in this type of work. This plough belongs to Mr John Garman from Shropshire.

The other photo clearly states the sort of chaos we achieve when we go to steam rallies. The previous evening we sat out 'till quite late with a BBQ and several alcoholic beverages. This is normal for steam enthusiasts. I have to say though that when we depart on a Sunday evening, every last piece of litter is collected and disposed of!

This year Chris and I had our work cut out, and after I had the engine on Saturday, I decided to join Sam on the plough, which I enjoyed very much. Chris was on the engine for most of the time on Sunday and he is an excellent puller.

Bedford Steam and Country Festival

This last weekend I attended the Bedford Steam and Country Festival, located at The Old Warden Park. This is indeed a lovely country park setting, and the ploughing field allocated to us was just outside the limits of the park. Our camp was by a small lake overflowing with fish. At night you went to sleep listening to the hoots and screeches of Barn and Tawney owls.

This is just an 11 second video taken on my Canon Power Shot by Chris Beale. We were ploughing with 'Sevington', the sister engine to 'Linkey'

Welland

Amongst the various activities at Welland was the operation of a vintage cultivator via two steam ploughing engines.

Once again Fowler, 1916 K7 engine 'Linkey' was steamed up for action.

Chris Beale and me both attended to the engine all weekend, and we had a good time.

The other engine, also a K7 1919, from Nailsea, just south of Bristol and owned by Fred Thomas was crewed by his family, daughter Kim and son Nathan. His friend 'Spit' was also in attendance. Kim is a charming young lady in her teens and can handle the engine very well. Now Nathan has come on well. For a lad of 14 he has learnt a lot in the last year, and I have every confidence that he will make a good engine operator.

I personally felt more confident on 'Linkey' this time and at times was left alone.

Now for those who perhaps do not fully understand the principle of steam ploughing or cultivation, let me explain. You need two fully steamed up ploughing engines. Each engine has a length of wire rope on a drum slung underneath the boiler. The implement is attached and an operator found to travel on the implement, keeping it under control by steering. The engine operators use a whistle signal system to keep in touch and maintain movement. Two whistles from the far engine indicates they are ready and your engine commences pulling. If you here one long whistle, you must stop immediately, there is a problem. In many cases you can see the other engine, but sometimes you cannot, then you really do have to rely on the whistle signals.

When you give two signals to 'pay out', you must ensure that pressure is maintained. Check the fire, put some coal on if required, check the water level in the boiler, without which she will blow up! You are continually working and must be aware of many aspects of the engines operation.

I have broad brushed this statement, and no doubt somebody will criticize my dialogue.