Pulling a crowd as golden age of steam gains traction with visitors

TRANSPORT ENTHUSIASTS from across the North flocked to Yorkshire over the weekend for a celebration of the golden age of steam power.

The Great Yorkshire Traction Engine Club’s annual steam rally was held on Saturday and yesterday in the surroundings of Duncombe Park, near Helmsley in North Yorkshire.

Visitors young and old were able to run the rule over full-size and miniature steam traction engines as well as a wide range of tractors and vintage cars and motorcycles.

The programme included demonstrations of wood sawing, threshing, straw baling and heavy haulage, with music being supplied by members of the Leeming Military Wives Choir. Helmsley town crier David Hinde was also on hand to help keep the crowds entertained in his usual inimitable fashion.

As part of the weekend, exhibits and events were arranged to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

The Great Yorkshire Traction Engine Club can trace its roots all the way back to the early 1950s, with its steam rally first staged at Duncombe Park in 1990.

PICTURES: JAMES HARDISTY. STEAMED UP: Rebecca Wilkinson, five, of Thirsk, runs past the display of traction engines at Duncombe Park.

HITCHING A LIFT: Lawrence Vasey, of Pickering, and David Foster, of Helmsley, on a 4in Scale Burrell Road Loco.