At last! a rally with some real goodies to spend money on...
We popped over this morning, the site is only 5 miles from Rushden so no big trip for a change.
Not a huge show, but a reasonable turn-out of engines, a couple of nice old EV Bamfords, Hugh Stannard's Shanks running very nicely indeed, we reckoned it was firing every 16 turns of the flywheel or less ! a Blackstone a bit further up whose owner's name eluded me although I did look and the usual smaller engines. There was also an early A series Lister genny set which was dated at 1927 IIRC, but looked wrong for some reason..
Steam engines were there, not huge numbers but quite comfortable to watch and smell :-))
The motorcycles were pretty good for such a smallish show, one of the better turn-outs we have seen this year, and the range of exhibits was wider than usual.
A self-propelled howitzer caught my eye, the axles of which were made by Faun, same people who make those rather large heavy tractors that Alstom use up and down the country. I could see an engine under the cover between the axles and the prop shafts out to the geared hubs, but couldn't find anything to tell me what the engine was. It was used to move the gun when in position only, it being towed on the road by a big Scammel or Mighty Antar.
One of the advantages of being early is that you get the pick of bits on display, albeit having to take the chance of a higher asking price. The first bits we saw were a selection of new PCV/Nylon tarpaulins. These were the 'proper' material as used on truck tilts etc., and I was expecting a heavy price, but the guy started at £80, and after a discussion I bought 2 at £50 each. They were too heavy for me to lift so we went back for the van to load them up. There were 5 left as we came away, and I have a mobile number for the vendor if anyone else wants to contact him. He is based down Gloucester way.
Next goodie was a very nice Cambridge Instruments laboratory AC current, watts and volts test set, all in a fitted mahogany box with those nice big selector knobs that are sooooo tactile :-)) That was a tenner. Needs a bit of TLC as the box lid is off a different instrument and the leather handle was torn, but the movement was very nice indeed, something very collectible IMO.
On to other stalls, Rita bought some goodies of her own to compete with my own runaway attempt at emptying her purse (I had left my wallet behind in the factory last night... ) The we saw Mr MacGowan lurking behind his counter and wandered over to have a chat.
Mac always looks as if he has the whole world on his shoulders, but he is a pretty sharp guy underneath it all and we get on OK. he had a new Rototherm thermometer and adapter, all in stainless steel, which was very suitable for the Ruston 1ZHR which lost its own one before we bought it, so that joined the pile for another tenner.
Last of all was a small selection of manuals/leaflets, Gardner 6LX/6LXB spares catalogue for £1, and there was a CAV BPF/BPE pump book inside that, a Feredo fan belt master catalogue and a Rolls-Royve special tools catalogue for diesel engines, these last two being 50p each.
We had to come out of the field to get more cash for the tarps, but altogether we spent about 4 hours there and felt that it had been time well spent.
I'll measure the tarps as soon as it cools off outside.
Peter
-- Peter & Rita Forbes snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Engine pages for preservation info: