Hands on Weekend Report – September 2021
Joe and Mary Nourish kindly hosted this year’s Hands On held over the weekend 4th-5th September – the third they have staged since 2018. This was the 17th such event to be held.
Twelve members participated, four having attended previous Hands On weekends while the rest had no steam ploughing experience. There was a late withdrawal due to unforeseen circumstances and the paid-for place was donated by a generous member to the Club in the hope that it could be used by a youngster. The Steam Apprentice Club was approached and they put forward two candidates, both of whom were offered places at no cost.
Hands On engines, crews and participants line up (Photo: Victoria Kocher)
Three sets were available – the two BB1s of Joe Nourish and Peter Wilson, Brian Knight’s two BB1s, Howard Bolton’s BB1, and Hal Debes’ single together with two ploughs and a cultivator.
Joe also made sure that three additional participants were able to attend a Hands On “Extra” over the weekend 11th-12th September at which two sets of engines were available. This provided the opportunity to put to work Joe’s mole plough.
6 furrow plough with land press (Photo: Rob Dickinson)
Thanks have been received from many of those who participated, in particular to the owners, instructors and helpers who gave up their time to make the event a success and to ensure everyone enjoyed their time on the engines and implements. Not everyone found it easy going and there were some exhausted bodies by mid-afternoon on Sunday. Several required rather more guidance than others and were most appreciative of the one-on-one instruction provided.
A big thanks to everyone who turned up to help over one or both weekends, to the members who turned up to observe and photograph the proceedings, to the Steam Apprentice Club, and to Joe and Mary for once again making the event so enjoyable.
Hands On Extra Steam Apprentice Jack Potter (Photo: Ron Johl)
Some of the comments from those who attended:
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A massive thank you for the Steam Plough Clubs hands-on weekend and to the engine owners, crews and the various owners who did not have engines present, but still gave up their time to help out.
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It was a fantastic weekend with fantastic weather, I really enjoyed myself and got a lot out of the weekend. My sincere thanks to everyone who helped make the weekend go ahead.
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Well, what a brilliant weekend! It might take a couple of washes to get all the grease and oil out of my overalls, along with some gentle exercise and stretches to get my aging body back into some sort of order, but who cares – it was a fantastic way to spend time out in the glorious Rutland countryside with a great bunch of folk, all determined to have a good time and happy to share knowledge and experience with some absolute rookies like me. Please pass on my sincere thanks to all of the ‘black badge holders’ and anyone else involved behind the scenes, for a wonderful experience.
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I just wanted to say a massive thank you for the Steam Plough Clubs hands-on weekend to the engine owners, crews and the various owners who did not have engines present, but still gave up their time to help out. I met so many nice people, who genuinely just wanted to help everyone.
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I enjoyed myself greatly at the weekend. The participants were interested and interesting, and all those I instructed made visible progress over a very short time.
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A very worthwhile event.
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Please pass on my thanks to everyone that was involved in the Hands On, especially Joe without whom it would not have been possible at all.
Dick Eastwood, October 2021
Paul Johnson under instruction with Richard Playdon (Photo: Ron Johl)
Archie Sains preparing the Mole Drainer at the Hands On Extra weekend (Photo: Ron Johl)
Presentation of participation certificates (Photo: Rob Dickinson)
Hands On Participants (Photo: Victoria Kocher)
