Ahead of steam

Day 7

Nick had suggested that we take the old Roman road to Hereford and it turned out to be very quiet and Henry found himself outpacing Henrietta on occasion, even overtaking several vehicles (well tractors!) en route. We stopped just short of Hereford in a huge downpour and compared maps.

Our petrol card isn’t universally accepted and it was quite a challenge to find the right stations. Tesco seemed to be the easiest to find but that proved not to be the case in Hereford and due to a road closure we found ourselves running low and heading towards Ledbury running on vapour. We managed to reach a filling station in Ledbury (just). It didn’t take our card and the people working there had no idea how we could get to Welland just a few miles away.

So it was a case of following our nose over the top of the Malvern Hills and Henry was soon climbing like Chris Bonnington, leaving Henrietta trailing in his wake.

The Welland Steam Rally https://www.wellandsteamrally.co.uk/ is quite a big event running from Friday to the Sunday night but it wasn’t well signposted. Nonetheless we arrived at the check-in where we were met by security and told to wait to one side while they contacted the organiser.

Ten minutes later we were told to take Henry and Henrietta up to the shower blocks and wait where we would be met by a lady on a quad bike! It turned out not to be the best place to wait as Traction engines and wagons were moving in. We waited patiently and she turned up eventually, very stressed. She would go and find our host, Graham Probert, Director.

After another 45 minutes I set off on foot to find Graham (who I’d never met before). 5 minutes later, success. Graham invited us onto the showfield and we were finally able to park up ready for the evening.

Graham is a lovely chap and he showed us where he had arranged for us to set up outside the vintage tearooms. It was a prime position with our backs to the prevailing wind (and rain) facing the mass of gazebos protecting the tables for the patrons. A great place to entertain and hopefully take a generous collection over the next 3 days for Pancreatic Cancer Action.