Our only planned indoor show of the year at Little Downham kicked off our 2008 season with an excellent variety of exhibits, organs & vehicles to look at. This year had the largest display of hand-turned organs here for several years but medium-sized machines were at a premium. The steam section was also well represented with no less than four different scales of engine on show.

Outside in the yard, were just two trailer-displayed organs and another small instrument placed on the tailgate of a Smart car, rather a novel little outfit. Inside the hall were over a dozen hand-turned organs, each taking it in turns to play in a responsible manner without interruption or competition from each other.

The model displays this year included a Bill Dennis’s can-can girls, six decades of Meccano, a selection of fire-service models, John Rowell’s threshing outfit, diecast model steam vehicles, a huge selection of Morris Minor 1000 models and my own British Road Service haulage depot diorama, making it’s public debut. A collection of pottery horses and accompanying carts were also on display.

The theme for the teapot collectors this year was transport with examples of ships, planes, cars, vans, fire engine, petrol pumps, traffic warden & caravan shaped pots on show. Another collection from some regular exhibitors was the Royalist themed commemorative mugs and plates with local business’s advertising mugs making up the rest of the table. Collections of the Homepride flour men and Tetley tea-folk crockery were also new additions to the show’s repertoire.

There are usually several tool-themed displays and this year was no exception with three sets on show, together with Dad’s blowlamp collection. The Brown family showed a selection of their domestic bygones collection together with printing memorabilia, type and blocks. The Fenland skating memorabilia and a collection of horse hames, bits and other equine paraphernalia made a welcome return.

Other new displays were a collection of what I presume are manufacturers’ cast plates and a large selection of needlework memorabilia & collectables. In the back room, a wonderful collection of sweet tins and packaging caught the eye together with a selection of antique music-playing machines from before the days of gramophones and record players, remember them? I wonder if anybody is yet collecting iPods?

Outside in the yard were a total of seven tractors with examples of International, Fordson, Nuffield & Ferguson, plus a couple of military Landrovers. There were also examples of Ford, Vauxhall, Triumph, MG, Standard, Morris, Riley, BMW/Isetta, Sunbeam, Vanden Plas & Rover cars, together with a couple of motorcycles and a display of pedal cycles by the March Veteran & Vintage Cycle Club with the owners in period costume.

The steam section comprised the full-size 1914 Ruston & Proctor engine “Success”, a scaled-down Beyer Peacock steam lorry, a 4-4½ inch scale traction engine and a 3-inch scale Wallis & Steevens roller. Charlye Pennington brought along his Bedford “showman’s” outfit with his organ mounted into the side of his much-modified caravan for an hour or two in the afternoon. Finally, it was time for the hour-long raffle, a vote of thanks from the organisers and time for tea before heading home. Roll on the summer.