Despite the weather being rather grim, the Traction Engine Club of Ulster’s 50th Ulster Festival of Steam & Transport on 14-15 July was as a great success, thanks to the efforts of Chairman John Steele and his team, says Peter Love.
It has to be said that the Traction Engine Club of Ulster is one of the longest-running vintage vehicle clubs in Northern Ireland and is still going strong today. It all started when Harold Condell staged a threshing event on his farm near Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, in September 1967. That first event was well publicised, particularly on radio, and the press was in attendance along with a whole host of threshing men and general enthusiasts.
The event was staged again the following year and it was felt that a Northern Ireland branch of the ISPS should be formed, with 12 members coming together at the Midland Hotel, Belfast. In 1971, with changes within the ISPS, it was decided to go it alone as the Ulster Traction Engine Club, with Lord O’Neil as the elected president.
This story is from the October 2017 edition of Tractor & Machinery.
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This story is from the October 2017 edition of Tractor & Machinery.
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