Great Dorset Steam Fair – departure day…

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The GDSF 50th and largest show ever drew to a close yesterday.

GDSF 50th Anniversary…

A few days ago this field was rammed with caravans. One of about half a dozen caravan fields.

Not so busy now…

Ours had 6A electric hookup but this was disconnected late yesterday afternoon.

The infrastructure to deliver all of that was incredible.

We had a great time and met folks who’ve travelled from all over Europe and as far afield as Australia and the USA. Everyone had a great time and we felt it a privilege to be here.

(Except perhaps those arriving Saturday on a day ticket who queued for 4 hours to get in and a similar time to get out of the showground!).

Great Dorset Steam Fair – Day 5 of 5 (Monday)…

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This is the fith and final day of the show. The weather has improved and caravans were leaving the camping grounds in the morning without the assistance of a tractor.

We rustled up a breakfast brunch for the four of us and headed back to the showground for one last visit (to the Real Ale tent…).

Moe visited the World War I display / re-enactment which we had visited a few days earlier to take a few pictures.

World War I Centenary Celebration…

World War I Centenary Celebration – Trenches…

World War I Centenary Celebration – view towards main arena…

World War I Centenary Celebration…

World War I Centenary Celebration…

World War I Centenary Celebration – Trenches…

World War I Centenary Celebration…

 

Great Dorset Steam Fair – Day 4 of 5 (Sunday)…

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Months of hot summer weather had created a very dry showground but all of that changed today. Torrential rail turned the showground and camping grounds into a mudbath. Hope things have dried up by Tuesday.

Sunday lunch in Chris and Alison’s van was a great way to spend the wet day… Delicious roast.

Wet wet Sunday…

Wet wet Sunday…

Wet wet Sunday…

Great Dorset Steam Fair – Day 1 – 3 of 5 (Thursday – Saturday)…

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Thursday was the official opening day of this five day event – the 50th anniversary of the show – 520 full size steam engines in total on site but the official record stated only 472 as some of the engines were not rideable. This is still a new world record. The weather was generally ok for the first three days with Saturday being the pick of the bunch. It wasn’t as warm as much of the summer but just about acceptable. The weather for Sunday looks a little more ominous…

GDSF Saturday – beautiful weather / view across the camping grounds.

The quietest area to grab some food and drink (especially some exquisite cider) was the Food Hall area. To be honest, there’s no shortage of street food (of varying quality) throughout the entire Steam Fair.

A summary of the first few days is documented in the many pictures below.

Big Pete Monster truck display team…

Big Pete Monster truck display team…

Vintage Motor cycles…

Showman engines…

Over 500 Traction Engines on display…

The main show arena…

The main show arena…

The main show arena…

The main show arena…

The main show arena…

The main show arena – all styles and sizes…

 

 

 

Great Dorset Steam Fair – arrival…

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The Great Dorset Steam fair is the world’s largest heritage and cultural event, showcasing Great Britain’s National industrial, agricultural and rich leisure legacy… And this year it got much bigger.

2018 marks the 50th Anniversary show and is starring 500 full size steam engines, never before has such a gathering been attempted….

A short drive from the campsite and then organised chaos in entering the site. There are a lot of “travellers” here for the event.

GDSF campsite…

It then took a little while to find an ideal camping spot and to mark out the territory.

Nice big plot…

The GDSF is huge show. Six music venues, 500 steam engimes and lots of stuff to see and do.

A few pictures to follow.

Steam preview…

Music highlights…

 

Real Ale menu…

Great Dorset Steam fair – Summerlands Caravan park, Salisbury…

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We are en-route to the Great Dorset Steam Fair. An event highly recommended by our next door neighbours and some friends we met out in Spain (Chris and Alison).

We arrived at Summerlands Camping and Caravanning site following about a 2 hour drive from North Hampshire. The campsite is located south of Salisbury and close to the A354, which will be the route of our short journey to the Steam Fair tomorrow.

Summerlands Caravan and Camping site

This is a lovely site with a small and pristinely kept toilet block consisting of two toilets and a shower in both the Mens and Ladies sections.

Summerlands Shower block

This is our last piece of civilisation before the show. The view from our van is stunning.

Summerlands – view from our van…

Our friends (due to the height of their “horsebox”) are parked up in the rally field.

The beast…

Dinner was at the Fox and Goose, Coombe Bissett. Very good pub grub.

Fox and Goose, Coombe Bissett…

Carsington Water, 2018 – Day trip to Bakewell…

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Monday morning and a prompt start to Bakewell with Paul and Andrea. It was market day and the town and car parks were heaving. So too were the cafes so having failed to find somewhere for a coffee and bite to eat, we headed to the supermarket and purchased our “picnic kit”.

We then found a wonderful spot alongside the River Wye to enjoy our ham and cheese rolls, followed by Bakewell tart.

After the impromptu picnic we headed up to the “All Saints Parish” church in Bakewell.

All Saints Parish Church, Bakewell

On our way back to the car, we couldn’t help but admire the multitude of large fish in the river. Apparently a mixture of Brown and Rainbow trout with many specimens looking to be around 20lbs in weight.

We had hoped to stop at a nice country pub on the way back but everywhere was closed. In the end, we headed into Ashbourne and sat outside an inn on the market square. Unusually the pub had a pool table free to use. Sadly my pool wasn’t quite up to the professional standards required to beat Paul…

Evening was a stir fry, chez P and A.

 

Carsington Water – Dinner at the Miners Arms…

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It’s been a considerable time since mining was a core activity in this part of the world but maybe a couple of icons remain. One seems to be a local estate agent – Scargill and co – any relation perhaps?

The other is the Miners Arms at Carsington village and Wednesday night is steak night. The steak was magnificent – we all had the filet – and very keenly priced.

If you are in this part of the world on a Wednesday evening, pay the Miners Arms a visit.

Aye up – Steak night at Miners

Carsington Water, 2018 – Cycle ride to the Royal Oak…

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It might seem a little extreme to cycle a 37 mile round trip to the pub for lunch but whilst the Ploughmans lunch at the Royal Oak was exceptional, the bike ride was truly spectacular.

 

The Royal Oak, Hurdlow

Leaving the CMC site at Carsington Water, we headed clockwise around Britain’s newest reservoir, Carsington Water, opened by the Queen in 1992.

At the village of Carsington we left the cycle path and headed north to the HIgh Peak trail.

The High Peak Railway line first opened in 1831 and was mainly designed to carry minerals and goods between Cromford Canal and the Peak Forest Canal. Following the closure of the line, the Peak District National Park bought the route in 1971 and turned it into a traffic free trail for walkers and cyclists.

The High Peak Trail runs for 17 miles from Dowlow (53.2059°N 1.8349°W) near Buxton to High Peak Junction at Cromford (53.1004°N 1.5354°W).

High Peak cycle ride…

 

The evening was spent at the Barley Mow pub, Kirk Ireton. It is still owned by the same elderly couple but much of the day-to-day operations are carried out by their daughter. We chatted to both Jen and her father Tony, who’s still as bright as a button!

See our previous visit here:

Barley Mow, Kirk Ireton

Carsington Water, 2018 – World Cup final day…

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Another trip to the Red Lion at Hognaston – this time on foot – to sample their Sunday lunch and watch the World Cup final between France and Croatia.

Lunch was excellent, the game good but the “wrong” team won!

Red Lion Sunday roast