This is Cornwall -- The Great Dorset Steam Fair attracts visitors from all across the South West peninsula. Philip Bowern looks ahead to this year's event, now in its 45th year, and stronger than ever.Great rural events can be characterised in a number of ways – by the special interest they celebrate, the visitors they attract or the quality of the entertainment they provide.
The Great Dorset Steam Fair, however, has one other special quality that marks it out from every other fair, show and celebration taking place through the summer – it's very special smell.
A unique blend of freshly turned soil, coal smoke, steam and hot oil combine together and assail the nostrils as soon as you walk through the entrance to the showground at Tarrant Hinton.
And it is an odour that brings lovers of steam engines, competition ploughing and a celebration of mighty machinery from decades gone by, back again and again.
At least some of those planning to attend this year's show, which takes place from Wednesday August 28 to Sunday September 1, will be coming back having attended every show since 1968.
The 45th year is forecast to be the busiest yet, even after the five-day event attracted a record 60,000 visitors on its busiest day last year. In celebration of this landmark occasion, organisers have released images taken at the first ever Great Dorset Steam Fair in 1968.
Martin Oliver, the managing director of the Great Dorset Steam Fair and son of the late Michael Oliver, who founded the event, said: "I don't think anyone could have predicted the huge scale the fair has become today, especially as it grew in popularity gradually year on year, but Dad always knew it would be successful.
"Back at Shaftesbury in 1968 the show enjoyed 2,000 visitors. This quickly grew to 50,000, and now the show regularly attracts over 200,000 people. It's amazing to think that these days the show has 25,000 people camping on site at any one time – that's the population of a sizeable town!"
The event is worth approximately £21.3m to the economy of Dorset and the wider region, and creates £7m of additional tourism consumer expenditure for Dorset.
The money comes from visitors from outside the area that would probably not have come to Dorset had the fair not been held, according to a 2005 Economic Impact Study Survey conducted by The Market Research Group.
The show, which this year will cost around £2 million to stage, couldn't run without its section leaders, site managers and an army of helpers.
In total there are around 300 people working at the event. A group of non-executive directors make up the Great Dorset Steam Fair's committee and work all year round to try to ensure each event is better than the last.
Organisers say they are very proud to be the "National Heritage Show", presenting the Britain of times past. Many exhibits are shown in the way that they were used years ago, working in their natural environment.
The Great Dorset Steam Fair is a typically British event offering a unique blend of nostalgia and entertainment. The world's largest heritage and cultural event showcases our national industrial, agricultural and leisure history. There is no other event like this anywhere in the world... and then there's that smell.
*Steam fair facts*
Annually the Great Dorset Steam Fair goes through ten miles of electric cable, 200 tonnes of coal and 550 barrels of beer. Over 200,000 visitors attend each year from the UK and all over the world. This year there will be over 90 acts performing on six stages across the site. There are over 170 acres allocated for pre-paid public camping that will accommodate a staggering 5,000 individual units (caravans and tents, etc). At the busiest time of Steam Fair week there will be between 15,000 and 20,000 show visitors camping on site. Over 60 Showman's Engines with their gleaming, twisted, brass will generate the light and power for the old roundabouts and swing-boats. Over 100 cars, 250 commercial vehicles, over 140 motorcycle exhibits, over 100 military machines, over 250 vintage tractors and over 100 horticultural tractors will be on display this year. Ten large corn ricks will be threshed at this year's show and a dozen saw benches will feature in the wood sawing area. This year the Great Dorset Steam Fair, which was first held in 1968, will take place from Wednesday August 28 to Sunday September 1 in Tarrant Hinton, near Blandford. The spectacle covers an enormous showground, at over 600 acres being one of Europe's largest outdoor event locations, along with Glastonbury Festival. It is now widely recognised as the National Heritage Show as well as being regarded as the leading show of its type in the world. For more information and to book tickets visit http://www.gdsf.co.uk/ Reported by This is 18 hours ago.