This year's show was incredibly muddy but there was a good spirit amongst those who attended. Full reports for this year's show will follow. A list of exhibits and attractions from this year's rally are listed below.

Exhibits

Other Attractions

38 Steam Engines

Craft Marquee and Food Hall

Road Making Display

Beer Tent

56 Motorcycles

Fairground

116 Tractors

Ring Events

10 Lawnmower collections

Dedicated Steam Ring

52 Ex-military Vehicles

The Original "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"

11 Fairground Organs

Napoleonic Skirmish with Cannons

8 "Any Old Iron" Collections

Lord Robart's Regiment - English Civil War Encampment

149 Cars and Light Commercials, comprising:

Punch and Judy

8 Vintage (1915-1930)

Owl Display

22 Historic (1933-1951)

Pioneer Group

42 Early Classic (1956-1965)

Climbing Wall

67 Classic (1966-1993)

Extreme Trampolining

10 Light Commercials (1932-1972)

Miniature Train Rides

68 Commercial Vehicles

Ferret Racing

36 Exhibits in the Working Area

Siberian Huskies

61 Stationary Engines

Giant Slide

11 Rural Bygone Exhibits

Go Karts

58 Models

Hook Norton Brewery Shire Horses and Wagons

Sidney the Shire Horse Wagon Rides

Trailer Rides

The 2005 must go down as one of our best rallies yet, and, as well as the sections putting on great displays there were also a number of other exhibits that did not come under the heading of a particular section. The most boisterous of these were the American Civil War people who not only had an encampment set up just as it would have been during the civil war but also gave a stunning display in the main arena which was accompanied by a superb commentary and as much noise and smoke as anyone has a right to want, brilliant. In the third field was also the Lord Robarts which is another enactment society who also put on a good display as well as the Pioneers who between them gave a glimpse of what it was like to live in those long forgotten days. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was also a great success with people coming to the show just to see it and the competitions in the local press to win a ride in this original car from the film certainly helped bolster a larger attendance that last year. The trailer rides once again proved to be a great success with both the commercials and the steam sections providing the motive power for them. Another firm favourite with the public was the climbing tower which did a roaring trade as well as the Extreme Trampoline, both of which I steered well clear of. From what I could see everybody had a good time and I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of our 37th rally.

Robbie Robinson

 The theme this year was Catalogue mowers. These were machines made by the main manufacturers that, providing you bought enough of them, you could either have your name plate on a standard machine or you could have your name on the machines without the manufacturers marks. Companies such as Timothy Whites and Gorton, Army and Navy Stores, Cooperative Society and Gamages were just a few of the good and famous to sell mowers under their own name and it is interesting to search to try and identify the manufacturers of these machines. We had over 60 machines on display of which 40 or more were catalogue machines. We were able to identify many of the manufacturers during the weekend. This is a great step forward as this was the first time that such a large collection of these mowers have been together. A particularly interesting mower was the Ransomes Reversible which dates from the 1870s and once the blade got blunt you would unbolt the bottom blade and turn the mower over, finally bolting the bottom blade on again. This meant that when it was pushed forwards the cutters now rotated in the opposite direction thus offering a a sharp edge to the bottom blade and back lapping the dull edge at the same time. A great time was had by all and we will need two barrels of beer next year! Many thanks to all my exhibitors, some of whom had travelled a long way to be with us.

Robbie Robinson

Despite an overcast and chilly Saturday over 50 vehicles braved the weather. Sunday, as was the case last year, signalled an improvement in the weather which attracted about 100 vehicles. This year the oldest vehicles were a 1922 Standard Tourer and 1925 Morris Oxford Bullnose. Again this year attendees included members of the Northampton MG Owners Club and the Hampshire Region of the Midget and Sprite Club. The display system copied from last year’s tractors, of parading the vehicles through and out of the ring in a zigzag route, was very successful and was well received by both exhibitors and spectators alike. Thanks are due to the Marshals for organising this so well.

Alf Kenchington and Peter Pitts

Well it was certainly a rally of two halves but despite the poor weather on Saturday all of the steam exhibits managed to get onto the field during the day, and we even managed to have a Grande Parade. Unfortunately the conditions put many off going on the usual road run in the evening so activities generally petered out, except for the road making section who had their own Barbeque party well into the small hours. Sunday seemed to be a totally different day with glorious sunny weather and firmer ground conditions. Everybody enjoyed themselves and had a great deal of interest shown in the displays and exhibits. For various reasons we were well down on engine numbers which was very disappointing as at least eight listed in the programme could not attend. I feel particularly sorry for David and Debbie Marsh who suffered a tragic accident on the Whitsun Bank holiday which most of you will have heard about. This obviously kept them away physically but not in spirit, and a nice touch was the card signed by all engineman including the grubby finger prints which was sent off to wish them well. Another unfortunate non starter was Luke Gray with his cup winning Aveling Barford roller, which blew a mud lid joint just before leaving the yard for Bloxham. For him a frustrating and disappointing incident so I hope he has better luck for us next year. One small addition to the line up to try to make amends was the inclusion of a Barrows and Stewart 3nhp portable which I had been fortunate enough to acquire only the week before hand. This engine has very special connections with this district as it was built in Banbury in 1870 and worked all its life in Brailes, so in some ways it has come home and from the interest shown is much appreciated. I was very glad to see Pat Jenkins on the rally field on Saturday morning with his rare Mann wagon which is just starting its first full rally season after a major rebuild. If wasn’t for Richard ‘Turbo’ Vincent offering to drive Pat’s lorry up from Somerset after working late into Friday night on the Mann to finish it off, we might not have seen it at all. ‘Turbo’ as his name suggests is a powerhouse of energy and thought nothing of driving back home again at 1 am to be up again for work at 6 am. Another hard worker was Melvyn Camps who drove his Sentinel tipper over from Saffron Walden on the Friday, managing run out of coal but just about reaching us by sweeping out the coal bunker. He and his team were kept busy all weekend carrying crushed stone from the crusher and tipping it onto the new Banbury By-pass. This made a brilliant addition to the road making display which came alive with the increased activity. As usual Graham Burbery put on a very good display and made the most of the space available to build a picture of how roads used to be repaired. The large Foster portable of Nick Middleton’s certainly drew the crowds into this area and kept the action alive around the stone crusher it was driving. Also in this working area was Rob Walker’s fine Burrell roller which won a cup at last years rally. I am particularly grateful to Rob Freeman for collecting him from Kenilworth as it seemed time was against him driving it over. It’s fair to say that our furthest travelled exhibitor at Bloxham was there for the first time and came all the way from Spain with a Stanley steam car. The other Stanley steam car new to our rally came from Middleton Cheney and its new owner seemed to generate quite a following where ever she went! Apparently she’s more at home on a traction engine than a steam car so maybe some of our local engine owners might like another pair of hands. Finally an engine not seen at Banbury for the last eighteen years made a very welcome return after a major rebuild. This is the Fowler agricultural belonging to the Holman family which should have been crewed by Heather Holman but as she had to be elsewhere, mother and father stepped in and had an enjoyable weekend. As some of you already know, this was my last year of organising the steam section, however we have been lucky enough to have Dave Wothers volunteer for this role. He comes to us as a fellow engine owner and experienced steam section rally organiser. To ensure continuity he was involved in the running of the section over the rally weekend so will have a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. I trust everyone will give him their full support and help. To end I would like to thank all those who have helped me, especially the section stewards, and the members who come to set up the rally and pull down afterwards. Also a big thank you to Tony, Margaret and Chris Robinson, who put in a huge amount of effort to make the rally a success.

James Blenkinsop

What a great event!!
Friday’s weather obviously tried its best to knock us back, but as always everybody came through in the end. The traders put on a good display as usual, and by all accounts, had a good weekend. Sunday, as last year, proved a very good day for general public attendance and this seems particularly evident when you walk into our field; people everywhere. Caroline’s Craft Marquee, again incorporating the Food Hall was really popular. And the tables and chairs outside of it were once again well used. It’s always nice to hear people commenting that they’ve come back this year because of what they experienced last year. One example of this was with the climbing wall. Again it was really well used, so many thanks to the instructors and Margaret, Michael and Julie, who worked pretty much non-stop all weekend. Tony had also arranged an Extreme Bungie, so either end of the Craft Marquee the young at hearts had plenty to keep them amused. I was also fortunate enough to entice Chitty Chitty Bang Bang along to our event this year, and what a draw it proved. Pierre and Suzie Picton who own Chitty are a great couple, and I hope many of you had a chance to chat with them. If not, then try to next year as they enjoyed the rally so much that we’ve agreed for their return. Finally the other aspect I’ve been pursuing is the association with The Hook Norton Brewery Co. Ltd. I introduced them to our event last year, and we were fortunate to be able to develop this relationship further this year. This included a contribution towards the marketing of the event, ale in the beer tent, the Dray Horses, a display in the Craft Marquee and even the Managing Director, James Clarke, bringing along one of his vintage fire engines. So a big thank you to everybody from Hook Norton.

Gerrard Herring

Firstly I must thank exhibitors for bringing along their Cast Iron Seats, Name Plates, Toolboxes, Spanners and other odd but interesting items, that made up this bright and interesting exhibition. We had exhibitors from all parts of the country, like Brendan George from Camarthen with his collection of 70 plus seats and John Lownsborough from Preston Lancashire. I asked why these old boys travelled so far. And they told me that the Banbury/Bloxham rally was the best as it catered for a lot of different exhibitors as well as the usual steam engines, tractors and cars, and realise that there is a lot of effort put in by its members to put on a good show, so would gladly give us their support. This tells me that we have got it about right. This year was a bit different as we were camping on site for the first time in our newly acquired caravan along with Mrs Bolter and the two kids who thought it was great, as it was our first time, ‘in the caravan I meant’. This was a dummy run, as the next weekend we were off on holiday with it. The only problem we had was that the sink plug kept jumping out of the plughole. Heres looking forward to next years rally

Andres Bolter

After a wet start on Saturday one would think that it would dampen the spirits of the exhibitors, but not the Stationary Engine people. They were soon out on Saturday morning cleaning and polishing the engines ready for a good weekends rallying. This year we held a prize raffle incorporating the stationary engines and rural bygones which was a great success. Our sincere thanks go to Charley D’eath and Peter Shadbolt for performing the ambiguous task of judging the engines this year. A heart felt thank you go out to all our engine exhibitors and their families who helped at the pay gates, Thank you. All in all everybody said they had a great weekend and can’t wait for next years Bloxham Rally. Finally our thanks go to everybody for displaying their engines. Just to finish we would like to welcome Mr & Mrs Bateman as new members to the Banbury Steam Society.

Theresa & Stan Keeves

The section was bigger this year than in the previous two years. The weather played a factor with a couple of displays not turning up, but a big thank you went out to all exhibitors who did turn up and put on a great display for the section. We would like to thank our two judges Mrs Win Bateman and Mrs Rose Fisher who stood in at the last minute as we were let down by our original judges. We are please to say that there has been more people enquire about showing at next years rally.

Theresa & Stan Keeves

I sent around 70 entry forms out and when the list closed in early May for inclusion in the program I had 57 entries. Subsequently I was approached by the Northampton Section of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club asking if they could attend. I confirmed that it was possible if they arrived by 10.30 am and would stay until 5pm. Up until a week before the rally I had received another8 entries from Northampton I then phoned the club secretary to repeat the attendance conditions. The weather had been so good in the weeks leading up to the event that rain would be inconceivable. The layout was different this year as we did not share an entrance with the commercial vehicles. I was confident that I could fit at least 60 motorcycles into the area and about 5 cars. My forecast for the weather was totally incorrect with all the rain on the Friday and a forecast of showers on the Saturday, I new that I would not get a full number of entries. In the event I got 38 entries on the Saturday and on Sunday had 40, regrettably the Northampton contingent did not arrive until after 11am so were not able to enter the rally field on Sunday. We had a good spread of ages of machine from my 1921 Triumph up to a 1979 Ossa competition machines were well represented with 2 trials, 3 motor cross and 3 speedway machines. The speedway machines were of particular interest to the younger visitors who were attracted to the bright colours and the look that ‘we are going 100mph standing still’ It was disappointing that some exhibitors wanted to leave before 5pm. I was thanked by several exhibitors for organizing it and I think we all had a good Day, the ground dried out and the sun shone, lovely.

Ian Hirons

To everyone who took part in the working area 2005. Thank you very much for taking part in this years rally in the working area. It was without exception another great rally thank you all very much. Sorry no photographs this year I just did not have the time to do as I normally do, due to circumstances as you will know. We look forward to seeing you all next year, many, many thanks again.

Pete Groves

A big thank you to all who came into the craft area this year. After a very slow start to the numbers who were applying, all turned out well, as I had a good turn out. The majority were new comers and it turned out to be more interesting for the public. All I spoke to at the stalls were happy with the weekend and the atmosphere and want to come again.

Caroline Beasely

The 2005 Rally was my second in charge of the ‘bank’. Yet again the weather made a difference with one quiet and one very hectic day. I would like to thank my helpers, Ann, Jane and Lindsey for all their hard work over the two days, I could not do it without them, and also to the boys who helped Chris to run the two gates.

Sandra Tanner, Treasurer
 

Rally reports including Chairman's comments and Section Leader reports for previous year's rallies can be found on this page.