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Saturday 20th April 2024 10:45-18:30 Ox Drove, Picket Piece, Andover, SP11 6ND

Join us at Derek Marder’s Contractors Yard for a full day of vintage road steam photography

Enjoy a day of vintage steam photography in Hampshire using at least six road steam engines in steam recreating scenes of 100 years ago

£75.00

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About this event

Join us for a full day of vintage road steam photography using steam engines and rollers dating back over one hundred years. This event will run through the afternoon into the early evening.

Derek moved onto the site with his parents in the 1940’s, as a young teenager when the site was a pig farm. When he was 16 he brought his first tractor and used it to plough the fields of the smaller farmers around Andover who didn't have their own machine .

He started the contracting business in the early 1950’s, mainly concentrating on demolition work, but many other types of work were undertaken over the following 50+ years. A number of the machines used in his business were parked up after a job & are now in the yard , waiting for their turn to be restored... a few in overgrown locations. They include vintage tractors, lorries, diesel rollers, excavators, Caterpillar tractors, cranes & various other machines and trailers.

From a young age, Derek has been interested in steam. It stemmed from walking past a steam sawmill on his way to school, where he would quite often call in to speak with the men who ran & looked after the sawmill. He brought his first steam engine as a teenager & this developed into a lifelong interest, with many more engines to follow. ( probably 40+ over the years). He became a key member in the preservation of steam vehicles & was one of the organisers of the very first steam "Rally”, held at Vigo Road in Andover. (Not a "Race”, as Appleford was)

The yard has become a hub for other owners to restore their engines, making use of the various pieces of equipment & machinery that Derek has acquired over the years. There are 20+ steam engines in the yard, most of which are owned by Derek, but also by others who keep the engines there over the winter period for repairs and maintenance.

We are planning to have at least six engines in steam, including:

• 1918 Ruston Proctor steam tractor no. 52453
• 1910 Ruston Proctor steam roller no. 38591
• 1922 Aveling & Porter steam roller no. 10282
• 1923 Wallis & Steevens steam roller no. 7779
• 1910 Ruston Proctor portable engine no. 39487
• 1903 Ransomes, Sims & Jeffries portable engine no. 15169

We will be  running a stone crusher & saw bench with the steam engines and perform some land clearance with a vintage JCB, then rolling in the surface with the steam rollers. The large workshop will be open, with a steam engine alight inside, to create some "atmospheric” photo opportunities, with another engine having work carried out to it as well.

Tea and coffee will be available during the day, but not food so please bring your own supplies to sustain you. Our intended start time is 11.00, but please arrive from 10.40 onwards so that we can do the short but important safety briefing prior to commencing photography. We are delighted to have use of this venue, and look forward to you joining us for an event packed with exciting opportunities to recreate scenes that would have been seen in the English countryside a century ago. The day will finish up at 18:30.

Event requirements

Equipment

  • Spare batteries
  • Camera
  • Lenses
  • Camera protection - rain covers etc

Other things you should bring

  • Snacks

Knowledge

  • All levels welcome

Fitness

  • Low

Other essentials

  • Sturdy outdoor shoes
  • Wet weather gear

Event location