All the fun at the Dorset Steam Fair 2014

Dear mummy, it’s a Thursday and you’ve taken the day off work to join friends at the Dorset Steam Fair. This is our first trip to Tarrant Hinton, between Salisbury and Blandford. As we drive down into the valley we can see the whole site and it’s massive!! Motor homes and cars fill the fields and there is a small queue to get in. We arrive at 10:30 and black clouds are looming overhead.

We’ve been told that the site is muddy…well that’s an understatement, good thing we have brought our wellies.

It’s a bit steep to get in, £20 but worth it as there is so much to see and do. Huge food tents greet us and we enjoy a fresh farm grub. A pork and bramley pie goes down a treat with a Stowell cider and we listen to the fairground musical organs.

We walked up past the heavy horses pulling ploughs cultivating the fields and see old fashioned farm machinery in action, water pumps, hay barrel condensers, saw machinery and water coolers.

Mummy particularly liked the lace and basket weaving demonstrations. We walked through rows and rows of tractors from Austin to Leyland, some very old and some new.

We saw lots of military vehicles and even an egg cleaning machine!?! If you are a petrol head and love machinery then this is the place for you!

Navigating around the footpaths is difficult due to the amount of mud, it’s extra bad due to the heavy machinery and tractors which go up and down the routes during the event, causing large mud tracks and rivers.

We watch several couples struggle with buggys and it wasn’t great for wheelchair uses either.

It’s was like something from Glastonbury and we were thankful we weren’t staying all weekend.

It drizzled on and off all day but that didn’t dampen our spirits as we reached the fairground after seeing some steam engines.

Seeing all the steam machinery and the old fairground rides was one of our highlights.

They were so beautiful and well looked after. They would look amazing at night my mummy thought.

We jumped on the big wheel to get a look at the site and the view was amazing.

On our way back to the carpark we caught the last of the Monster trucks and the motorcycle jumpers.

Before we knew it was 5pm and time to go. No traffic on the way out or the way home which was good.

Was it worth the £20 entrance fee? Most definately! Along with the live demonstrations, shows, craft tents and one of the largest collection of steam machinery in the country it was a real feast for the eyes. We enjoyed a large fun fair, walked about the huge market and auto/machinery jumble sale and enjoyed the wealth of food outlets on offer.

A really great day out not what we were expecting and we were pleasantly surprised. The mud kinda added to the day as it really made us slow down and take in all the sights and added to the adventure. Next time we go we would love to bring the whole family, who knows we may even bring a camper van down and stay too!

Bella xx