Old Warden Steam Rally (September 12th - 14th,
2025)
Simply the Best
This is one of a series of pages I have uploaded to illustrate facets of the steam rallies we have attended in the UK. Click here for the 2025 introduction and overall index.
By 2018 the Bedford Steam Engine Preservation Society's annual Old Warden Steam Rally had become second in size only to the Great Dorset Steam Fair. However, it seems that there were problems behind the scenes and, after a planned break in 2019, the pandemic intervened and when the BSEPS moved to Turvey for the 2022 and 2023 events, the rallies were on a reduced scale. Not surprisingly, the announcement of a return to Old Warden in 2024 was greeted with much anticipation and the outcome was undeniably a massive success, the rally now being comfortably the largest in the country. The organisers are well aware that 2026 will bring the opportunity to celebrate not just the occasion of its 65th rally but also the 70th anniversary of the society itself. As such, this weekend can fairly be judged to have been a successful dress rehearsal and we intend to be back for the celebrations. 150 engines anyone? It was a total achieved for the 60th anniversary back in 2016.
A tradition at Old Warden is to park one or more engines in front of the house for a photo shoot and for most of the two days I was at the rally, there was a small crowd of gricers in attendance and woe betide any individuals who wandered in front of the gallery. It was also an opportunity to catch up on 'news', I think that some of the gricers in attendance hardly left the area except to answer a call of nature
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| Rollers | General Engines, Part 1 | General Engines, Part 2 | General Engines, Part 3 |
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Necessarily, apart from repatriations and the occasional 'barn finds', the supply of 'new engines' is limited and each season sees a few choice examples which even experienced gricers may not be familiar with. Fowler 10855 'Pride of Northamptonshire' used to rally locally and seems to have been retired some 20 years ago. Not inappropriately, it was being paraded by Fowler 11699 'Pride of Hanley Castle'. It was one of eight engines present here which I had not previously encountered, a total which only the largest rallies (typically with over 100 engines present) can hope to match.
