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A Family Affair With Steam At The New Forest Show

Charlie Harvey (below), a local chicken farmer all his life, has found a wonderful hobby to keep him busy in his retirement – sharing his love of working miniature steam engines with children and their families, at The New Forest & Hampshire County Show.

Though retirement was enforced by a heart problem, this was sorted out by a heart by-pass operation and the excellent care he received, gave Charlie the idea of raising money for charity by utilising his love of steam engines to good effect. His first engine, called Alfred after his Dad, came into his possession in 1997. The baler joined it as a birthday present from his wife, Joyce, custom built for Charlie by Sam Scutter of Reading and an elevator followed plus the purchase of a thresher in 1998, giving Charlie the full set to start up with.

Believe it or not this miniature group has a wide range of useful tasks as well as raising money for charity. Charlie and Joyce can be seen at the 3 day New Forest Show in Brockenhurst, starting on Tuesday 24 th July, with their hobby in action. Wheat and barley, given to them by a well known local farmer Tim Dalton is used to provide a range of useful products that the public can buy at the Show, with all the money going to charity.

Wheat grain is sold for chicken feed for those of us who are lucky enough to have our own chickens and ducks at the bottom of our gardens, with the consequent straw sold for use as bedding for horses.

Barley straw is ideal for those with fish ponds as it prevents the spread of algae and keeps ponds clean and healthy. The straw from grass is also baled up for sale for rabbits and other pets.
These machines provide endless fascination for children and adults alike as they watch these wonderful miniatures in action, all exact replicas of their larger counterparts. The bales produced are only 12 inches by 6 inches, so cute but also so useful – after all most of us could not lug around a full bale of straw, so these are ideal to purchase for use at home for our pets.

For those engineeringly minded ‘Alfred’ the steam engine driving the thresher drinks about 45 gallons of water and uses about 38 pounds of coal per day. All the health and safety rules and regulations apply for miniatures in exactly the same way as for the full grown versions so everyone can be assured that they can relax and enjoy the sight of these wonderful replicas knowing that they are in professional hands.

The whole Harvey family will be coming with Charlie and Joyce to the New Forest Show to help out where they can, as a thank you for all the pleasure that they have in Charlie’s hobby. Christmas for example holds an added fascination in the Harvey household. ‘Alfred’ gets connected to a carnival trailer and the 9 grandchildren enjoy a ride through the forest near Sway where he lives, delighting in the steam engine puffing its way to the local pub where a coke and crisps are the order of the day – sounds idyllic!

For everyone else he gives an opportunity to watch history in action at The Show and you cannot help but be a little envious of seeing Charlie and Joyce really enjoying an active retirement, whilst bringing so many benefits to pet owners, donations to local charities and making the whole spectacle a family event as well.

Look at www.newforestshow.co.uk for all information on the Show, advance discounted tickets and travel . Let the train take the strain and come to the Show to Brockenhurst mainline station where a fleet of pay-as-you-go buses will take you ring into the Show ground.