With the rally season now well and truly in full swing, It was nice to have a short drive to what is now my local show, The Chickerell Steam & Vintage Show. This long established rally in its usual slot of the first weekend of July, I feel it now carries the honour of being the biggest vintage show in Dorset since the demise of the GDSF.
Although nowhere near the scale of the GDSF, Chickerell manages to pack an outstanding amount of exhibits and entertainment into its show fields, and the public really do come out in force! Steam are of course represented in strong numbers between miniature and full size, Commercials and tractors too had a vast selection from WW2 to the modern era.
Us stationary engine enthusiasts and public alike were spoilt with what was in offer in the section. The section leader went to great effort to select an incredibly varied choice of engine, everything from working models to large oil engines from the turn of the last century. With the overwhelming amount of public interest, It was vital to have an information board present with your display if you fancied a sit down or a drink. I do not recall ever having to answer so many questions before, which is an absolutely fantastic part of the hobby.
It’s hard to know which engine to start with, still learning this writing lark! For this article I’m going to split it into two sections, The big-ens and the no-so-big-ens.
Starting with the big-ens, this was my first time seeing a Samson Oil Engine built by the Campbell Gas Company. A very crude and unique looking engine, with a rough history of actually being a boat anchor for 20 years! Other big engines included a Gardner VT hot bulb 2 stroke, using ropes to assist with cooling! Still looking factory fresh after a few rallies was the “Invincible” engine built by A & E Woodward. We also had power from a National Oil Engine, Two R.Hornsbys, Tangye Type M ,Japy 13E and a Lister K!
Not-so-big-ens made up a majority of the section, with no two alike. I was lucky enough to be beside a absolutely fantastic Gardner 1 AV from 1926. Possibly the most satisfying valve gear of any engine. Open crank power came in the form of a Faultless engine built by John M Smythe Co, Worthington by Ingeco, Two sizes of Ruston Hornsby APR, Rolled Hopper Amanco Hired Man, a smaller Czech Lorenz among many more!
Vertical power had no shortage either, We had a very early Petter ‘Jellymould’ 2 stroke, a Moteur-Omnium, one of (if not the earliest) example of a Lister D genset, 3HP Blackstone, Monitor PumpJack, and a multi-cylinder Kohler genset!
Now there was more small engines than I’m going to be able to write about in this article, please watch the Youtube video attached for the full rundown or to find your engine! More detailed videos of some of the engines in attendance can be found on my social media accounts!
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Country: GB
