Our return to the Euston Rural PasTimes event after a gap of two years now that the Doddington weekend show appears to have lapsed should have worked well except someone forgot to order good weather. That said, the east of England escaped the worst of the heavy rain forecast since Friday and changes in the layout of the show in the intervening years make it more user-friendly for the vintage exhibitor.

With the work situation very much in doubt at the start of the year, we’d booked in a couple of bygone displays with the expectation we’d be situated within the rural crafts & displays area and would be able to use our gazebo as a walk-in facility with a display each side. However, we were in amongst the stationary engines and setting up the gazebo became a half-hour struggle that we were never going to win so in the interests of public safety and with no desire to imitate Mary Poppins, we called it a day and retreated to the van.

One of the reasons we stopped coming to Euston was that the parking for stationary engine owners’ vehicles was moved away from the display area so it was gratifying to see that this decision has since been reversed. Another was that the tractors never got to parade until late in the day, but now all vintage vehicle and machinery exhibits have their own parade ring, with the main Norfolk ring handling the more countrified displays and the Suffolk ring the heavy horse showings.

However, it was noticeable that the event seemed to have shrunk a little with fewer trade stands and only a few bric-a-brac charity stalls instead of the large number that used to occupy the old scout tents around the perimeter of the Norfolk ring. Also, to my mind, there seemed fewer craftsmen demonstrating their trades than I remember before, for instance, no trug-maker, but displays that due rate mention were the coracle and rope making stands.

Despite the weather, there were a surprising number of convertible, drop-head and open-top cars on display. It was inevitable that some would leave during the day but most stayed on until the weather improved mid-afternoon. The quality of the line-up was very good with some rarities including a couple of steam cars, a Stanley and a Locomobile. The Bury (St Edmunds) Mini Club are to be congratulated on putting on a wide-ranging display of Mini models spanning 45 years.

My one gripe this year was that with time to spare, the weather was not conducive to taking the estate tour by tractor-and-trailer. Indeed, I did not see them move all day, before we took our leave mid-late afternoon. Hopefully, we can return with stationary engines next year.