Saturday, 8 August 2009

Pickering Traction Engine Rally

Yesterday we had a good Northern day out and went to the Pickering Traction Engine Rally. Initially we thought we'd go mainly for Toby but it turned out to be a really fun day for us all. We met gran and grandad up there and thankfully the weather was great - it's less than 70 miles away from home but it had rained all night here.

We started by looking at the big agricultural engines; we arrived just at the right time as they were all chugging around and getting in line in one of the arenas. It was pretty smoky but I rather liked the smell - reminded me of the coal fires we had when I was young, before we were forced to use smokeless fuel! They were asking for 'ladies' to drive the engines around the arena and although I'm not sure I quite qualify as a lady, Steve bullied me into have a go. Beth was allowed to come up for a photo but not for the circuit. It was harder than it looked but I reckon given a bit longer I might have become a dab hand at it!

After a bit of nosh we headed over to the tractor pulling. Toby was mesmerised and just stood there with his nose pushed through the railings staring. I think that intense concentration must have worn him out as he literally just passed out after that and had a good nap in the pushchair. We wandered back towards the car, stopping briefly at the Punch and Judy show and the other stage shows on the way. We went to gran and grandads for tea and the gps system took us a rather round about way and we came back across the moors.