Fun for thousands of visitors at the Beamish Great North Steam Fair

Box trams, steam cars and famous fire engines attracted thousands of guests to Beamish Museum over a four-day festival.
A visitor to the museum. Picture: Beamish.A visitor to the museum. Picture: Beamish.
A visitor to the museum. Picture: Beamish.

The annual Great North Steam Fair was the museum's busiest yet, with more than 23,000 people heading along to find out more about the 140 vehicles and locomotives taking part in the show.

Traction engines, steam rollers, motorbikes and even a tractor were all present and correct over the weekend, along with a now-famous 1929 fire engine which featured in Disney's new live-action Dumbo film.

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Paul Foster, Historic Events Officer at Beamish, said: “It was fantastic to see so many pre-1930 vehicles running in the historic setting of Beamish and the event’s reputation continues to grow. This year, there were 25 road steam vehicles and 120 internal combustion vehicles.

“Wherever you looked there was something different for our visitors to see. A big thank you to all exhibitors for attending and continuing to support the event.”

The Great North Steam Fair event, which is part of Beamish’s Great North Festival of Transport, also gave families the chance to head to the Model Tramway Exhibition, and see the museum in miniature, or learn more about vintage motor vehicles from the Friends of Beamish.

Thousands visited  the Great North Steam Fair over the weekend. Picture: Beamish.Thousands visited  the Great North Steam Fair over the weekend. Picture: Beamish.
Thousands visited the Great North Steam Fair over the weekend. Picture: Beamish.
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The Great North Festival of Transport also includes Horses at Work, which takes place on April 27 and 28.

As well as Beamish’s own horses, there will be a number of visiting horses and horse-drawn vehicles. Watch displays, meet the pit ponies and take part in fun family activities.