The Morton Steam & Vintage Weekend at Dock Furrows Farm, alongside the A15 road just north of Bourne in Lincolnshire was a successful first event for Brian and his small team of helpers. With good support from the steam engine fraternity as well as the vintage vehicle, tractor and stationary engine owners, hopefully this show will become an annual event in the future.

The well-drained grassed field provided an ideal venue for the show and its regular shape meant the layout was quite compact. One change from other shows was that there was no parade ring or movement of vehicles once sited, except for a small arena where some of the miniature steam gave rides for the children. At the road end of this arena was a small funfair with juvenile swing-boats and roundabout plus a couple of side-stalls.

There were two full-size steamers in attendance, the Fowler showman's engine "Duke of Rutland" and on Sunday, the Ransomes Sims & Jeffries owned by RA Hinch, both being low-loaded to the event. Also, there was a selection of miniature steam of various scales including a very nice Garrett showman's in green. Alongside the small arena were a small selection of models, a display of horticultural equipment and a selection of vintage bicycles.

The vintage motorcycles were lined up in a row alongside the Jackie Stewart Francois Cevert Elf-livered Tyrrell Ford racing-car transporter, which was a little bit of a shame as one couldn't get a clear picture of this lovely preserved vehicle. However, you could get up close and personal with the attending formula-one car displayed on the ramps of this three-car transporter. This was indeed a treat and a very apt display, given Bourne's long association with one of the pioneers of motor racing, Raymond Mays.

The commercial vehicle section chopped and changed over the weekend, as did all the vehicle classes, but still provided a good selection of vehicles of every decade from the 1930s to the 1970s. Perhaps the most impressive on the road was the Volvo F86 3-axle bulk tipper towing a tandem axle caravan. Several others represented the market-garden nature of southern Lincolnshire's agriculture with examples of small lorries such as Austin, Morris, Ford D-series, Bedford, Thames Trader & Leyland Comet.

The stationary engine section was very similar to Holbeach a week before with examples of Ruston PT & PB, Lister D, Wolseley WD, Bamford, Petter M and A-series, Fowler and Amanco, but with the addition of a couple of local Gardner engines. At the end of the stationary engine line was a working display of a Blackstone's of Stamford corn mill driven by an Italian Landini tractor grinding corn into flour. Spread out around the mill was a huge display of corn merchants sacks, many displaying long-gone names of merchants local to this region.

The tractor section had examples of Ferguson, Fordson, Massey Ferguson, Farmall, David Brown, Field Marshall (in the rare orange livery), Mercury, Leyland, Cletrac, McCormick Deering, Nuffield, International and Allis Chalmers on show, although not all on both days. Tractor boys must be ardent football fans as several were loaded up and away by 3pm, presumably away home to watch England beat Ecuador 1-0 in the world Cup 2nd round.

The vintage and classic cars were out in force with some fine examples to look at. Joining the organiser's Morris Eight were examples of Jaguar, Riley, MG, Rover, Hillman, Austin, Alvis, Bentley, AC, Rolls Royce, Ford, Volkswagen, Alfa Romeo, Vauxhall, Triumph, Wolseley, Morris camper van and a rare Renault truck. Amongst these were also a couple of kit-car type vehicles and a modern Lotus Elise, presumably for some contrast.

The Tasty Tucker offered refreshments together with a licensed bar, plus a hog roast, disco and 60s band of variable ability for exhibitors staying over Saturday night. There were two excellent junk stalls to browse through, with maybe two or three visits needed as other browsers uncovered items during the weekend. Other stalls offered toys, models, plants, sweets, tractor parts plus several charity bric-a-brac and tombola stalls.

And finally, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight attended both days in the shape of the Lancaster on its own on Saturday plus a pair of Spitfires which circled over a total of four times on Sunday. It is perhaps fitting that some surplus funds are destined to help support the local Air Ambulance service, very often a necessary service in these rural areas.