The Great Dorset Steam Fair at 50
Essa Diallo looks back over half a century of Dorset's iconic steam heritage show to see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same
Published in August ’18
Heavy haulage at its finest: the sight, smell, sound and the visceral feel of Goliaths like these is unforgettable
During the days up to and including the last weekend of August, over 250,000 people will gather near Tarrant Hinton to visit the world’s largest heritage and cultural event: The Great Dorset Steam Fair (GDSF).
It is the largest single annual collection of vintage equipment on Earth, with a particular focus on all things steam. Every year thousands of items are brought along both for display and to be purchased by steam enthusiasts and members of the public. At any one time, there can be over 30,000 people camping on site and 50,000 day visitors.
For a heritage show in the middle of the countryside, its size is staggering. Nick Ward, who first came to the show in the mid 1970s with a group of friends from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) concurs. Even 25 years ago, when the daily attendance was less than a quarter of what it currently is, he recalls: ‘the tents and exhibits stretched over several fields and the horizon was very impressive.’
These days it’s bigger yet: almost a square mile of rural Dorset filled with the smells, sounds, sights and visceral feel of the Goliaths of the steam age. In a normal year, over 300 original steam engines and their owners meet annually to showcase their machines performing the original tasks for which they were manufactured, as well as completing numerous challenges and – often successfully – attempting world records. The latest of these was in 2013, where 103 steam rollers broke the record for the longest parade of steam rollers. Every year, the show brings £22 million to the local economy over a period of five days, a statistic that is unrivalled by any other attraction in the UK.
It’s not just steam heritage on show at the GDSF
The GDSF began as The Dorset Steam and Historic Vehicle Club, before becoming known as The Great Dorset Steam Fair in 1981. The Oliver family have been the cornerstone of the events since its inception in 1968. 2018 marks 50 years since Michael Oliver and his fellow club members held a ‘Great Working of Steam Engines’ to provide an outlet for his strong interest in the working of steam engines and concern for their gradual obsolescence. Ever since he was a child, Michael had been fascinated with engines, and was from a farming background – his father used to thresh by steam – and this led to an interest in trains.
During the last days of the Somerset and Dorset railway, he noticed the declining services and took it upon himself to film some of the last running steam trains on the line. After the railway’s eventual closure in 1966 following the Beeching report Michael found there was a strong following for those wishing to ‘view the final running trains on their beloved railway.’ After booking the local pub in nearby Okeford Fitzpaine, he was able to show his films to five sittings of local residents. After one such event, he was approached by Edward Hines of Shaftesbury, who told Michael there was enough interest for him to start his own enthusiasts’ club. Hines himself owned a small museum containing seven fairground organs and several traction engines, including the renowned Burrell showman’s engine No. 3938 “Quo Vadis” This can still be seen as a regular attender of the steam fair, and is the GDSF’s mascot.
The ancestor of today’s show was held on a small patch of land near Hines’s museum. It was a small meeting of locals and enthusiasts who were encouraged to bring their engines along. It was apparent to the organisers that should they host another gathering, so more land was required. A small trial fair was held in September 1969 and featured the then novel idea of a showcase of different engines, mainly powered by steam, undertaking the jobs that they were built to do, rather than the destruction Derbies or races.
The 670-acre site has up to 30,000 people camping overnight
A childhood acquaintance of Michael’s, landowner Ingram Spencer, offered several fields for the event free of charge. Among those bringing their attractions to the showground near the River Stour about 3 miles outside Blandford were Percy Cole and his ‘Magnificent Gondola Ride’ and Nottinghamshire man Bill Dorman’s ‘Magic Roundabout’. By adhering to the motto that ‘what could be worked was worked,’ the show’s path to success was plotted. It is an ethos that is still observed today.
By 1971, the show had moved a short distance to Stourpaine Bushes and continued steadily increasing in size over the next few years. By the early 1980’s, the show was attracting well over 50,000 visitors over the course of the event weekend. However, just as the fair was in preparation for its 1985 show, a disagreement with the landowner over the harvesting of the fields that were to be used by the steam fair led to another location being needed.
Michael settled on a larger area of land close to Everley Hill about a mile further north, where more and more attractions like roundabouts and restored fairground organs began to compete with the traction engines for attention. After three further years it was apparent that a still larger site was needed to accommodate both the crowds of people and the growing number of exhibits. After talks with local farmer Keith Hooper of Tarrant Hinton, a deal was agreed to site the Steam Fair on his land. Since 1988 the show has grown almost exponentially, now one of Europe’s largest event locations occupying over 600 acres.
The show changes character as night falls and becomes a huge funfair and party with live bands
Man power as well as steam power is on display at the show
In 2002, Michael handed over the reins of running the GDSF to his son Martin, the company’s Managing Director. In 2004 the Oliver family built a new permanent office dedicated to the steam fair at their present headquarters in Child Okeford. Michael Oliver sadly died in 2009.
Nine years on and 2018 marks fifty years since the founding of the fair. To celebrate this landmark event, the organisers have planned a special ‘500 at 50’ event. Over 500 steam and traction engines will gather at this year’s festival in the largest ever single collection of steam engines on earth. Martin is confident it will be a success: ‘The “500 at 50” event will be a sight to behold,’ he says. It will also represent another Guinness World Record.
The show also coincides with the 100th anniversary of the end of World War 1, and there will be a variety of exhibits in commemoration of the war. In particular, the show will play host to an authentic World War 1 trench, feature a variety of steam and historical vehicles, as well as war equipment and horse displays. Guy Martin has offered to showcase his replica 1917 tank and it will take part in a variety of displays along with original and genuine military vehicles.
Two weeks ahead of the show on 11 August, a singular ‘Homecoming” road parade will take place, as a procession of vehicles travels from Bovington Army Camp to the GDSF. Since Nick Ward attended his first fair forty years ago he thinks that ‘little has changed, except for its expansion,’ which is reflective of the Oliver family’s ethos that it should remain as traditional as possible, but the organisers are still very open to new ideas: the new exhibits of the last few years kept the show modern and contemporary, yet preserving the original aspects of the displays, while the introduction of a shuttle bus service has speeded up ingress and egress.
In the showground, vintage vehicles continue to fulfil their functions, demonstrating their original tasks, with events such as road making, steam rolling, ploughing and threshing all taking place on site. For Nick Ward, the heavy haulage events are always the most memorable: ‘They make a tremendous noise… truly spectacular.’
According to Michael Oliver, the key to the fair’s success was ‘keeping the whole family happy,’ which is why a wide array of attractions arrives annually in Tarrant Hinton. Over the course of five days, it is possible to see a wide variety of performances, stunt shows from world-renowned teams including Big Pete’s Monster Truck Displays and Xtreme Stunt Team as well as five live venues where over 100 acts will play during the show.
For older attendees, including one-time biker Nick Ward, nothing compares to the Wall of Death, ‘looking down at the death-defying men and women on ancient, very noisy motorcycles.’
As day turns to night and the sights get bright and blurry, the main attraction is the vintage fairground, the largest of its type in Europe. Many powered by vintage showmen’s traction engines, the rides from the 19th and 20th centuries provide ‘something for the whole family.’
As Nick Ward says: ‘The sounds of fairground organs are immensely evocative, but the rides are testing and stomach churning,’ and that’s why people love them. From atop the Big Wheel, it is possible to view the entire mile-square site from a height of 100 feet. Competing with the soft chug of steam engines and the screams of excitement are the sounds of over fifty models of fairground organs, some worth up to £500,000, many of which have been restored from dilapidation over many years.
Why is the GDSF such a Dorset success? Nick Ward puts it down to ‘the indigenous population of steam enthusiasts, farmers and fans of country life in Dorset.’ Added to which, of course, are the tens of thousands who come from elsewhere throughout the UK and overseas too.
Perhaps we should leave the final word to Martin Oliver who, even though the GDSF has grown a hundredfold in size from its humble beginnings, is still surprised at how much interest there has been in the 50th anniversary celebrations: ‘ In all my time with the show I haven’t ever seen anything like the interest being shown this year, and we are always busy each year.’ Here’s to the next 50 years.
www.gdsf.co.uk
