What's happening?

Despite living in Shropshire all of my life I had never visited the Shrewsbury Vintage Steam & Vintage Vehicle Rally until today!
The fact I am now outnumbered and have three men in my life (one husband who has the backing of a three-year-old son and a 16-month-old son) means the boys and their toys win!
But this evening I am the one raving about the fantastic family day out we had.
We refused to be put off by the dark skies and the clouds which threatened overhead or by the traffic which we have spent many an hour in on the way to Oswestry during a bank holiday weekend so armed with wellies and umbrellas we went to Onslow Park.
Despite the funfair being the first attraction after going through the entrance we managed to bribe the boys away until later with promises of tractors and steam!
We certainly managed to keep our promises – vintage cars, tractors, buses, fire engines, motorbikes and traction engines of course – you name it, the show had it.
My husband was particularly pleased to be able to show the boys a vintage Pickford lorry like his late father drove.

While the horses, including the beautiful Shires the boys feed by their grandparent’s house in Park Hall, made an appearance in the ring before demonstrating their working skills with the plough after.
A short ride in a trailer to the working field (one three-year-old very pleased!) and we watched tractor pulling and the vintage tractors and machinery in action.
This is where the event organisers get their praise all in one go – rather than asking everyone to dig deep and pay a fee for the tractor ride (which most events would usually do) they simply put Severn Hospice charity boxes out. This was after they had already won their brownie points from me by only charging £1 for children to get into the show. This is a rarity as so many events/venues charge at least half of an adult ticket. A family of four (two adults and two children over five) just £24. Our children were free as they were under five – fantastic value for money.
Back to the ringside and the boys sat for longer than they have done in weeks watching the beautiful vintage cars “racing around” as Eddie described it!
The owners of these vehicles and all others at the show deserve to be as proud as they look when they stand by them, drive them or as many were doing continually working on them. And the sons and daughters standing proud in their overalls showed the engines were in safe hands for the future
We kept our promise and the boys enjoyed the fair rides but also enjoyed the free fairground organ entertainment equally.
As Onslow Park is on one of the busiest roads back from the coast we expected long delays but the organisers got it right yet again – with traffic lights put in place at the exit straight out we went.
The boys had a fantastic time and I must admit I unexpectedly did too! The fact I even managed a bit of Christmas shopping from one of the stalls was a bonus!
Out of all of the shows and events we have been to this year my husband and I have agreed this was by far the best. It is certainly on the calender for next year. And we’ll be ignoring the forecast once again as we enjoyed a dry afternoon!