RAIN FAILS TO DAMPEN SPIRITS AT DRIFFIELD

Pessimistic weather forecasts were for once proved accurate as heavy rain affected the Driffield Steam & Vintage Rally, which took place over the weekend of August 9th and 10th, writes David Rounce. It was hard to believe the deluge was coming as Saturday dawned bright and calm, which enabled several hot air balloons to rise from the rally field before 7am and float over the town to the delight of early risers.

As usual the organisers of the event, the East Riding Engine Club, had secured a large number of exhibits attracted from all over the UK including some 150 tractors, notable among which was the 1969 County 1004 driven to and from the rally by the owner, Adriaan van der Wal, from his home in Holland. A relatively new section amongst the expected lines of steam engines, commercials and cars was the display of vintage caravans, which this year expanded with more than 20 examples present.
The mild Saturday morning attracted a stream of visitors, however this stream was as nothing compared to the torrent of rain which arrived, as promised, at lunchtime. This severely restricted movement of visitors and exhibits around the site as conditions worsened, and many of the ring events were cancelled.

As the rain eased, all looked forward to the customary evening road run into Driffield town centre, where the roads are closed to all traffic except for rally exhibits. A large crowd gathered in eager anticipation of the evening’s entertainment and the usual carnival atmosphere. However, although unconnected to the rally, an incident in a town centre public house just before the run was due to commence resulted in the police delaying the road run almost to the point of cancellation. After nearly an hour’s hold up the assembled exhibits were allowed to parade into town ‘fashionably late’, much to the relief of the organisers and the assembled throng. Despite this setback the crowds seemed larger than ever, and this was reflected in the record street collection of £1300 on behalf of Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Sunday fared better of the two days, with the heavens not opening until nearly 1 o’clock, and the showers being of shorter duration. This enabled most of the ring events to take place as planned, the highlight of which were attempts at the 100ton steam pull. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of Andrew Middlewood with Burrell 7nhp no. 3048, which was adorned with balloons celebrating its 100th birthday, and able assistance by John Selby’s Marshall 7nhp no.79441 of 1925, a lack of traction on the sodden field meant that wheels spun and a pull of less than 50 tons proved to be the limit of adhesion. The spectators, however, appreciated the effort.

The organisers are hopeful that even though the weather was unkind, the event will have at least broken even and that they will be able to make the traditional donations to various local charities. A spokesman for the East Riding Engine Club paid tribute to all those who had assisted the club in staging the rally, which continues to be a friendly and popular event both locally and nationally.