I realise that we still have yet to hold the Great North Steam Fair, but as there seems to be some internet ‘buzz’ about proposals for Power from the Past (1 – 4 September 2011), then I thought a short heads up on plans would be of interest.

The event is to be a themed one, like our Corporations & Contractors event in 2010. It will be called Circular Tour – Riding for pleasure and will deal with transport used for fun, or heading for fun! The title is clearly derived from the 1920s Blackpool Corporation activities, but this is not a Blackpool themed event! There will be a strong presence from that resort however.

The tramway will have a theme of circular tours, and also trips to the races etc. The railway will deal with travelling on holiday, there will be horse drawn charabanc rides and a selection of appropriate buses is planned. There will also be a strong array of steam and working demonstrations which support the event, though not all can tie directly in with it (such as the Colliery – a recreated holiday there would only be accurate if we closed for the day!).

I am currently in discussions for a wide variety of exciting exhibits, and some blog followers will have seen from various sources that we are in talks with the Tramway Museum Society regarding borrowing their Pantograph car, Blackpool 167. I am also looking at one other visiting tram for the occasion (excluding the resident LTT’s 101 and Heaton Park’s 6, the latter might still be with us). I am also hoping to bring in some unusual railway locomotives plus create some really good working displays around the site involving steam and more unusual internal combustion on road and rail…

As ever, watch this space for details of what’s proposed (as always, subject to the usual caveats about availability), but I’ll leave it until after the GNSF before I report any further on PftP…

Note – more exhibits are being added to the Flickr pages every day for the GNSF – the line up of exhibits is likely to reach a half century…

Below: Blackpool 167, seen at Crich during 2010.