Steam into Action

Left: Photo © Jon Pratty.

This may be the nuclear age but there's a whole wide world of steam awaiting your attention this summer.

Steam engine aficionados across the globe hold Steam Fairs to celebrate the Golden Age, check out this season's venues on The Traction Engine Pages (Link on Places To Go page).

There's nothing like getting up close and personal with a belching, noisy, smelly engine to convince the offspring that technology has moved a fair way from Watt's glory days.

You may have trouble finding a genuine Boulton and Watt engine at a Steam Fair but there's guaranteed to be a wide range of later models along with heaps of enthusiastic know-how.

A bonus of steam fairs is that often they're held at heritage sites, adding to the whole historical experience.