Speech House Vintage Show, (14th September, 2025)
This is one of a series of pages which I have uploaded to illustrate facets of steam rallies we have attended in the UK. Such events occur all over the country in the summer months, they are easily found by using your favourite search engine and may have anything between a handful of steam engines and hundreds (as at the Great Dorset Steam Fair which could probably be fairly described as having an excess of riches). Click here for the overall 2025 index.
Officially this is the Forest Vintage Vehicle and Machinery Club's annual event but even their chairman's message on their website calls it 'The Speech House Show'. After my 2015 visit I wrote "This is a relatively new event, in terms of steam it's not so much a small rally as a mini one, being mainly internal combustion orientated and without space for maybe more than half a dozen steam road engines. The venue is splendid, the grounds beside the historic Speech House in the heart of the Forest of Dean and with it being a one day event there is no room for error with the weather."
Since when it has largely fallen off the radar as far as I am concerned, mainly because for their own good reason the organisers have shifted the event from the first to the second Sunday in September which means it clashes with Old Warden. In this part of the world summer finishes earlier than in the east side of the country and I was not terribly surprised when the 2024 event was abandoned even before it opened, the surface was saturated with recent rain. The 2025 event at least opened but writing this in the early afternoon, it's pouring with rain outside - as predicted and I have been safely home since 11.00. I just had time before I left to listen to a couple of items from the Forest of Dean Brass whom I regularly see at Welland. As happens there, Yuehong's favourite Chrystal Bliss was scheduled to sing her old time songs here but I wasn't going to risk BB getting stuck in the incipient car park mud.
Meanwhile, we had spent the earlier part of the weekend at Old Warden when the weather, if not perfect, had given us spells of sunshine and just a few showers which allowed me to do a fair amount of more than satisfactory photography. However the combination of an extortionate charge for a potential extra night and the weather forecast for Sunday meant that we came home on Saturday, hence the opportunity for this visit which was specifically to see the Aveling Barford roller.
Steam Rollers
Ken Hickson hadn't brought his 'Alfie' (Aveling and Porter 11448) but he had brought along a representative sample of his collection of road rolling kit.
General Engines
