The 2006 Ramsey autumn event was a great success, not only for the organisers and museum who catered for an exceptional amount of visitors, but also for your scribe who came away with the massive Dennis Brown Memorial Shield for best stationary engine, joining previous luminaries such as Tony Fisher, Russell Greensmith, Ivan Smith & George Thompson who've been successful in the past.

We took along a trio of working engines, James' grey Wolseley and Hunt & Co. cattle cake mill flanking my Ruston PT and William Corbett & Sons' corn mill on one side with Dad's blue Wolseley and recently acquired Niagara grinder mounted on a cream-separator stand on the other. Other engines included Tarpen, Lister, Petter, Bamford, International, John Deere, Amanco and Fairbanks.

The majority of the working tractors were the common Ferguson, Fordson & International diesels with the occasional John Deere, Case, Caterpillar or Nuffield. The days of the rarer machines we used to see here (such as a Kendall or BMB) or even the much more common Standard Fordson coming out to work in this area seem to have passed but with fuel the price it is, diesel power reigns supreme.

There were a few more interesting static tractors to be found, both in the line up and in the museum outbuildings, such as the grey International and the pair of David Browns, an immaculately restored 25D and a Taskmaster, badly in need of some TLC. Close by was a small selection of classic cars including examples of Ford, Rover and Wolseley.

At first glance, the threshing display seemed to have changed and looking back at last year's report, I now see how. The previously blue Ransomes baler has been given a repaint into a more photogenic red livery with yellow lining. Nearby, budding materials handlers could try their skill with a modern-day teleporter by attempting to place a ball on a hook on top of a cone, itself placed on top of a high stack of bales, and if successful, then attempting to put in back on its cone at ground level.

There were more heavy horses this year with up to half-a-dozen large horseboxes in attendance. The horses were gathered at the rear of the museum late morning for a Christian service of worship and ritual blessing of the plough. Elsewhere around the museum, a plethora of craft stalls sprung up under their gazebos to ply their skills to an interested public. With the museum attractions all open to the public, ample catering and a few stalls to look, it was a very pleasant day out.