As a romance write, I loved Jane Ayre of course, but I was quite surprised to come across her name at a local steam rally. There was a large variety of steam engines at this particular show, as well as tractors, vintage cars and heavy horses. Some of the engines were even scaled down miniatures - perfect replicas of the full sized versions.
Getting back to Jane Eyre - we love our strong heroines, and Charlotte Bronte's Jane was certainly a strong character. The steam version proved her physical strength by winching another traction engine, twice her size, across the arena. The larger engine isn't reversing, it's actually being pulled across by little Jane Eyre!
As well as the magnificent steam engines and vintage farm vehicles there was also a display of beautiful heavy horses, Shires, Percherons (the greys) and the lovely chestnut Suffolk Punches, my favourites.
The Percherons and The Suffolk Punches were driven as 'four in hands' and some of the other horses were pulling vintage farm implements, a Welsh hay sled and an Irish hay cart.(You may want to turn the sound down for the videos it was rather windy, so I apologise for the sound quality.)
I hope you enjoy these photos and videos bringing back images of a bygone era.
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