Sewards of Petersfield - Museum Review

Dingles Steam Village and Fairground Heritage Centre.
Top: Fowler Road Roller.
Upper middle: Marshall Traction Engine ‘Titan’
Lower middle: Burrell Showman’s Engine, ‘Rajah’
Bottom: Showman’s Living Van.

While on a recent holiday in Devon we visited Dingles Steam Village at Lifton, just off of the A30, 7 miles east of Launceston. We followed the brown signs and had no trouble finding it. After parking the car in the spacious car park, we entered the new reception area and paid our entry fee of £6.00 per adult and £4.50 for children then, with eager anticipation, we passed into the first exhibition hall.

The first hall contained a variety of steam engines most of which were working on steam piped from a central boiler, there were stationary engines, marine engines and a Fowler roller which was one of the fleet operated by Dingles all ticking over gently, filling the hall with the sounds and smells of working steam machinery. A nice touch was a steam steering engine from a ship that can be operated by members of the public, demonstrating how a ship was steered at sea. On further investigation, some interesting items of fairground art can be seen including rounding boards and beautiful show fronts depicting jungle scenes and chariot racers, marvellous examples of the skill of the showmen.

Passing into an open ended barn type building we found a selection of steam and petrol vehicles, the steam including a Burrell roller and a large Marshall traction engine named 'Titan' but there were also several packing trucks that had once belonged the Edwards of Swindon, a Wiltshire showman and these we found very interesting as they were in ‘as worked’ condition and we could imagine them travelling behind a showman's engine from fair to fair.

We visited on Good Friday and the South West Organ Festival was taking place with a number of visiting instruments dotted around the site. Outside a Burrell Showman's engine was generating for a machine together with a couple of Scammells who were making rather more noise than the steamer, this with the various organs created quite a din.

The new Fairground Heritage Centre contained some beautiful vintage fairground machines including Dodgems, a switchback, a speedway and an orbiter with some side stalls and shows. There were also two living vans and some packing trucks dotted about in the huge agricultural building which housed the collection. The building does nothing to enhance the fairground ‘feel’ and there is no atmosphere at all which is a great shame. Compared to Thursford with its subdued lighting and ‘cosier’ atmosphere Dingles fairground is stark and characterless, something that hopefully will change as the museum develops in the future.

The Dingles Steam Village is worth a visit especially if you are keen on fairground history, it contains some fine machines and artwork and we are sure that it will get better and better, see what you think.

Charles Burrell Museum, Thetford, Norfolk.
Top: Machinery in the Charles Burrell Museum.
Bottom: Burrell Traction Engine and Road Roller.

There are very few museums that can claim to be located in part of the actual works that they are trying to depict but The Charles Burrell Museum is one. Housed in the old paint shop of St. Nicholas Works Thetford, it is tucked away in the centre of town and is quite difficult to find. There are no signposts and the towns one way system does not make locating the building very easy at all. This visit we were lucky enough to get into the museum, as on several previous occasions we had found to our dismay that the museum was closed. It appears that only between the times of 10am and 2 pm on Tuesdays are the public admitted, a fact which only seems to be publicised on the museums leaflet which we only found at the museum!

On entering the building we were pleased to discover that there was no admittance charge and so passed through the reception and shop area to the main hall. Here, in a well lit wooden building were two Burrell engines, a single crank compound traction and a compound roller, both owned by the museum and capable of being steamed. Surrounding them were various pieces of workshop machinery, an ex Dorans roller living wagon and a selection of patterns used to cast parts for engines. The display of casting a cylinder from scratch is very interesting and reveals some of the complications in making an object of this importance to the machine.

Upstairs is a gallery containing graphics and photographs of the Burrell history and products and from here the visitor can look down on the engines and museum floor, it also reveals the industrial beauty of the building. If only it could talk, what stories it could tell…

The Charles Burrell Museum is well worth a visit, the staff are helpful and friendly, the building is interesting in itself being a survivor of the glory days, a shrine for all Burrell enthusiasts. A rare example of a museum being as important as the objects it contains

Persevere and when you finally find The Charles Burrell Museum you will take a short but enjoyable trip back in time.

Down in deepest Sussex is Amberley Working Museum. The whole complex is built on the site of the old limeworks nestled under the chalk hills of the village of Amberley. Upon entering the the museum you walk out of the reception, where you pay a fairly reasonable entrance fee, into a covered area built from the old tin roofed sheds originally used by the limeworks in its hay day. Passing the old engine shed, which once housed one of the steam railway locos which was used to take the lime from the works to the mainline station a few hundred yards away, there's lots to explore. A large array of buildings spread across the 36 acre site.

You'll find a fabulous old print works where you can purchase various pictures and scripts produced on the very machines working here. Round every corner there is something worth seeing. Most items are either well described or actually working, living up to the museum's name. The soon to be extended narrow gauge steam mine train offers a pleasant ride through the site and takes its passengers up to the reconstructed drying shed from Nightgales Brickworks, Petersfield, Hampshire. Alongside the old brickworks building is a pottery where demonstrations take place in the art of using a potters wheel. There are also souvenir mugs etc. for sale.

Across from the pottery are the EDF Energy Hall of Electricity and Connected Earth Telecommunications pavilions with plenty for children and grown ups to learn and play with. There are collections including the Southdowns buses and the "local" village garage.

Up by the kilns you'll find the Paviors pavilion which describes how roads were/are made and repaired.

In addition to the narrow gauge railway there are also a wonderful 1920s Tilling Stevens double decker bus, and trailer rides pulled by the museums Tasker Tractor and Marshall Roller.

Refreshments are available on site at the newly built Limeburners Restaurant.

Throughout the year there are many events held as Amberley Working Museum, and each has its own special theme. It's well worth a visit.

Milestones Museum, Hampshire.
Top: Tasker Chain Drive tractor.
Second: Tasker Economic Traction engine.
Third: Tasker wagon.
Bottom: Band Stand.

Milestones can be found on the Basingstoke leisure park and is signposted on all the approach roads into the town. First impressions of the building are that it resembles more a sports hall rather than a museum, but appearances can be deceptive so we parked the car and entered. After passing through reception (prices being adults £7.25, children £4.25) we stood at the top of the stairs leading to the museum floor and gazed at the rooftops of an undercover Hampshire town. Milestones is a journey through the history of the county, starting in 1850 and ending at the outbreak of the second World War.

This journey is made through a series of reconstructed buildings that were found in Hampshire at various times in this period, for example, the first building is a replica of Waterloo Ironworks, the Tasker factory that was near Andover. Here can be seen a machine shop and a gallery of Tasker products. Continuing the tour of the museum floor we discovered a building from Wallis an Steevens, Chesil Street Station, Winchester, a Co-Op, and numerous other shops and galleries, there was even a working pub. This Victorian end of the museum contains most of the steam exhibits, on the road and the showground, all of course being from Hampshire builders. There are amongst others, a Tasker Chain drive tractor, a nice Tasker traction engine and the sole surviving Wallis and Steevens wagon.

The second half of the museum represents the 1930s and 40s with various period style buildings and transport including many Thornycroft lorries restored by the Museum.

Here we also found an area containing collections of domestic bygones, a sweet shop and bandstand where we imagined that visiting musicians played to entertain the public.

Although this attraction is called a ‘living history’ museum, on the day of our visit there was very little evidence of much living history, certainly not of the type to be seen at places like the Black Country museum or Ironbridge and we thought that this was a bit of a disappointment. With a venue such as this, containing such realistic street scenes, a great deal could be done to both entertain and inform visitors, especially with such a wealth of information and history in Hampshire from which to draw.

On the whole, Milestones is well worth a visit for anyone who is interested in recent history, it contains some good examples of road steam engines and commercial vehicles and provides an enjoyable day out for all members of the family.

World of Country Life, Exmouth, Devon.
Top: Tasker 3 Ton Tractor.
Second: Burrell Showmans Engine His Majesty.
Third: Burrell Showmans Engine The Gladiator.
Fourth: Fowler Road Loco/Showmans Engine Candyfloss.
Bottom: Robey ‘Express’ Tractor.

While on holiday in Devon over the Easter period we visited the Country Life Museum at Sandy Bay, Exmouth. The brown tourist information signposts lead us straight to the door and there were plenty of parking spaces to choose from on our arrival. We were looking forward to this visit as we had been told that there were some interesting engines to look at. The admission prices were adults £8, children £7 and a family ticket was available at £28, we thought that this was possibly a bit expensive.

The first hall contained several room sets such as a pub and a gamekeepers house, there were also some ‘period’ shops and other window displays containing a variety of objects from the past. Continuing on we found a selection of agricultural machinery including a Ransomes portable, a threshing machine by Marshalls with a pair of  traction engine front wheels and a similarly adorned Ruston clover huller. Also in this hall was a Tasker 3 ton tractor which one of our party last saw pulling rides around the holiday camp next door thirty years ago.

Passing next to the hall of transport, we at last found something to attract our attention, three showmans engines. The Burrells, ‘His Majesty’ and ‘The Gladiator’, and a Fowler conversion ‘Candyfloss’. All three engines were restored and presented in a fair condition, though they could have done with a bit of a polish. It looked like ‘The Gladiator’ was stripped for a boiler inspection which suggests that it is occasionally steamed. The Fowler was a bit of a find as it was a Petersfield Engine when new, being supplied to Ameys Brewery and driven on numerous occasions by none other than James Seward Senior.

The transport hall also contained a good selection of other vehicles including a rather nice Thornycroft ‘J’ type charabanc. We then passed on to the steam, tractor and wagon shed which, as its name suggested, contained three traction engines, one roller and a Robey ‘Express’ tractor, all in rather ‘used’ condition, (not ‘used’ in the right sense), a selection of rather vintage tractors and some associated machinery, stationary engines etc.

The rest of the park contained numerous animal attractions, childrens play areas and rides which proved popular with the younger members of our team who had a great time.

Overall, The World of Country Life at Exmouth is a good family day out with plenty to occupy the kids, but from a museums viewpoint, it is rather disappointing. There are indeed some interesting engines and other vehicles, but they could be a bit better presented. The reconstructions of shops and rooms are rather amateur when compared with those at places like Bygones and Milestones but contain some interesting objects.

Visit, see what you think.

In August, while on holiday in Yorkshire we decided to visit the National Railway Museum in York. We had all heard good things about this museum and so we were looking forward to seeing for ourselves. The first pleasant surprise was that as the N.R.M. is a national, it is free to enter. We passed through the turnstile and went downstairs to the main gallery. The most junior member of our party was a complete ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ enthusiast and when we entered the hall containing the engines, his face was a joy to see, it was heaven! It certainly was a spectacular sight, the first thing that the visitor sees on entering is a turntable surrounded by pristine locomotives with a big green tender engine (which we were informed by our expert was ‘Emily’) upon it. We were just in time to watch a demonstration of the turntable given by museum staff, these ‘explainers’ as they are called are often ex railwaymen who are friendly and certainly know their subjects.

After the turntable demo we continued to explore the gallery, gazing in awe at the splendid locos. The public address announced that a talk was about to begin on the ‘Evening Star’ and as we were standing next to her we awaited the explainer who, to our surprise, invited us and several other members of the public up on to the footplate! Wow! How many other museums allow the public on to their objects? This set the mood for the rest of our visit, brilliant.

We spent an entire day at the N.R.M. and around every corner found more treats: there were train rides, both large and small, activities for kids of all ages and plenty of opportunities to get on footplates.

Another interesting hour or so was spent looking around the reserve store and the workshop, indeed, from a window at the back of the store we spotted the ‘Flying Scotsman’ being prepared for her trips that week to Scarborough. Walking around the viewing gallery above the workshop we were glad to see that the museum was working on a real engine, as on the floor, in a very poorly condition was the stripped down boiler of a Fowler compound traction engine, our visit was complete.

The National Railway Museum is definitely worth a visit and when you go allow a full day otherwise you won’t see it all, it does not matter if you are a railway enthusiast or not, you will enjoy it.

A week away in Norfolk for us in April and we had to visit the Thursford Steam Collection. Having never been there before, we had heard lots of reports from friends and were looking forward to our trip.

As we arrived in the car park there was only a handful of cars, then reading the sign on the entrance gate we noticed it didn't open until midday. So at midday off we went, walking down towards the big buildings we notice a train which unfortunately was sheeted up which the children were very disappointed about, it also looked as though it hadn't been steamed for some time.

Entering the building where the engines and rides are kept we were impressed, there stood three showman's engines in a line and a set of gallopers and a wonderful Gondola switchback ride. Over the other side of the building was the stage where Robert Wolfe plays the Wurlitzer theatre organ and beyond that were more steam engines and a good display of stationary engines. Also around the walls of the building were many types of fairground organs.

As we walked around the organs played well known tunes which gave a good atmosphere. Then Robert Wolfe sat at the Wurlitzer and gave us a fantastic display of how one of these wonderful instruments should be played. We all sat watching him. The children were mesmerised.

The chance came to have a go on the two rides. Having ridden on gallopers many times over the years we didn't feel the need to have a go on them, but the impressive gondola ride was a different matter and we couldn't wait. It was great, what a site it must have been all thoughs years ago at a town or village fair.

To sum up our visit, it was a shame that none of the engines have seen a fire in there fire boxes for years, it is disappointing as we think all steam engines should really be seen in steam. It would be nice to see some of the other engines that are parked up waiting for restoration in the yard across the road from the museum. There is plenty of room for more inside the building and surrounding gardens. You only get to see a handful of what is a very large collection. To end on a high note, the atmosphere created by the music of the fairground organs and the Wurlitzer is fabulous.

Bressingham steam museum is located on the A1066 Diss to Thetford road two and a half miles west of Diss, it is well signposted and can be easily found next to a large garden centre. Admission to the museum is through the garden centre. On entering, our first impressions were good with a narrow gauge railway loco pulling rides around the site and gardens with a fine set of gallopers in the distance but as we wanted to see the engine collection we decided to save these treats for later. After passing through a rather shabby gift shop, we entered the main hall containing the engines and were rather disappointed to discover a collection of rather neglected exhibits including a pair of Fowler ploughing engines, several rollers, traction engines, a Burrell road loco and a Burrell showmans both of which we were to sold and were in need of some TLC. The gallery finishes with a 'Dads Army' set which while interesting was a bit 'thin'. To our dismay, outside, on a patch of gravel was an old and rather interesting Fowler Agricultural engine which was in almost derelict condition having evidently been left uncovered for quite a while, not the sort of thing one expects from a museum of repute.

Next we toured the standard gauge locomotive sheds where there were some nicely cared for engines from the national collection, these were by far the best kept things in the museum, it would seem that road engines are the poor relation at Bressingham.

On the plus side, we enjoyed riding on both the 'nursery railway', a narrow gauge industrial type line and the 'waveney valley railway', a 15' line, both were quite long and offered fine views of the gardens which must be spectacular in the summer, the locos and stock were well looked after and the staff both friendly and helpful.

Bressingham has been in existence for well over 30 years and in the past has had a reputation for being worth a visit, however we were rather disappointed with the overall experience and thought that it rather suggested a museum in decline, perhaps offering some of its assets for sale will generate some revenue to revamp this tired but worthy attraction.