Strumpshaw Steam Rally (27th - 29th May, 2023)
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 2023 introduction and overall index.
We had got most of the way to Strumpshaw in 2022 but our trusty 'BB' disgraced herself so we spent the Jubilee weekend cat sitting in our friend's beautiful country house waiting for a repair to be effected. Apart from missing the rally and the bill, it was a near idyllic weekend!
Hence we were back at Strumpshaw a mere 7 years after our only previous visit. It had hardly changed, there was again an excellent mix of engines in attractive 'parkland' and you could 'cut the atmosphere with a knife'. If I had one criticism it would be that 51 full sized engines were listed in the (very good) programme but there were no less than 8 'no shows', one of which 'King Carnival 2', had featured prominently in promotional material. We attended on the Saturday (full sunshine throughout) and maybe some of them will have pitched up later.
It's a long way from home and it will be a while before we are able to return, but when we do it will again be a great pleasure to visit. There was minimal movement save to and from the ring for the parade and a large number of visitors, so despite the wall to wall sunshine the photographic results were modest. As with our previous visit 'working steam' was limited to sawing and stone crushing. I paid a quick visit to the Strumpshaw Steam Engine Museum which appeared essentially unchanged from my 2016 visit (any contradiction gratefully received).
I gather that there were issues getting everyone in (on the Sunday) owing to the number of visitors. The roads here are narrow but pre-booked tickets and maybe facilities for 'cards' might have helped. Again, splitting the traffic into two files going to different ends of the car park is known to ease the pressure. We arrived relatively early on Saturday and stayed later than most so had no real problems.
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