Steam-Driven Things

Today we are going where the past meets the present, where hard old-fashioned graft rubs shoulders with recreation and leisure, where the laughter of children overlays the roars of huge machines, and where the tang of coal smoke mingles with the aroma of beer and fish and chips. We're off to Stotfold Mill Working Steam Weekend.

It's a fairly small show and you could get around the whole site in an hour or two, but others linger for the whole day and still don't see everything. Unlike other shows there's no central ring where all the action takes place and if there is a programme then I didn't see one. You wander around aimlessly and there's always something happening in several places. It's probably the last show of the year for many enthusiasts and there's a laid-back, end-of-term feel to everything.

The Watermill

We arrived soon after the show started, at the civilised time of 10:30. There were not too many people about, so it was an ideal time to visit Stotfold Mill itself.

In 1992 there was a disastrous fire which destroyed most of the historic building; all that remained were some brick foundations and metal parts including the overshot waterwheel. A group of local volunteers got together and made the courageous decision that the mill must be completely rebuilt. This involved their travelling all over the country, looking at similar mills to see exactly how they were constructed.

Although it's something of a showpiece, with explanatory notices and collections of historic items that have only tenuous connections to milling, it has a quality which older mills lack. You see, watermills and windmills didn't just shut down while they were in full productive mode; they limped along for decades, being used occasionally when other more modern facilities were busy or a local farmer had some animal feed to be ground. During this time the fabric of the mills deteriorated until one day they were completely abandoned. The crisp, new woodwork we see at Stotfold is much closer to how these mills must have looked in their heyday than other more antiquated mills.

The machinery extends over three floors of the building and everything you see is powered by the waterwheel.

There's a remarkably life-like model of the miller totting up his profits. We also made use of the small tea-room which is nowadays attached to the mill. We're off to get a nice pot of tea and some hot, buttered teacakes. After that we'll explore the show.....

Stationary Exhibits

While they are preparing the working machines we'll have a look at some of the stationary items on display.....

To one side of the showground there are some stately old motorcars.

Many knowledgeable authorities were to be found drooling over this ancient steam-powered Foden lorry. They told us that this is a rare visitor to shows in this area and one they hadn't seen before. It's also remarkable in that all its paintwork is original.

There was an impressive line-up of elderly tractors to be admired, though some of these would disappear from time to time to demonstrate a little ploughing, or else to tow other machines that had broken down.

This unusual design is "not that old", by which I mean of course that they were used during my lifetime. Every now and then some heartless person reminds me that that could still mean "ancient" to younger eyes. Anyway, this is a David Brown 2D Row-Crop Tractor that was launched to much fanfare in the late 1950s. It was revolutionary in that it was rear-engined and had a range of cultivating tools which could be mounted just in front of the driver, exactly where he could see what was going on. Despite their optimism, production ceased in 1961.

Here's an altogether more ancient beast. This is a Renault PE tractor that was first manufactured in 1926. We can take a little circular historical journey here:

   At 4 am, one morning in May 1896, the inventor Dan Albone jumped out of bed, much to the annoyance of his wife, with a new idea buzzing in his head. He had just conceived the modern lightweight tractor.

   By 1902 the new tractor was undergoing its first trial.

   In 1903 Dan realised that, with a covering of thick, bullet-proof metal, his new vehicle might be used by the army.

   During the 1914-18 war the new "tanks" were used for the first time. Renault in France began making similar machines.

   After the war Renault reversed the process and made agricultural tractors, based on their tanks.

   In 1926 they made the PE, their first proper agricultural tractor.

   And now here it is back in Bedfordshire, just five miles from where Mrs Albone was rudely awakened 127 years ago!

Ploughing By Steam

Periodically the relative peace was interrupted by loud blasts from a neighbouring field. If we go through a hole in the hedge we can see what's going on.....

Amid a certain amount of head-scratching they are about to begin ploughing another strip of land. The reversible plough on the right of the picture needs to be tipped down and will then be pulled up the field by another steam engine at the far end....

Like this! Once at the top of the hill, the plough will need to be tipped up again and man-handled into position to begin the next furrow. Then the whole apparatus will then be pulled back by.... 

...."Princess Caroline", patiently awaiting her turn. You can see the great drum beneath the machine which will winch in the steel cable to pull the plough. When everything's ready to go the drivers of the vehicles signal to one another with ear-splitting blasts, like this....

This is how ploughing was carried out in this area before Dan Albone's new tractors took over. If you hadn't guessed we were among the visitors who spent the whole day there. I'll be back in a day or two with more from the Working Steam Weekend.

Take care