THIS year's Tavistock Steam and Vintage Fair proved yet again to be a real success, in spite of suffering an unbelievable collection of disasters on the way.

Moving the date back by a week to avoid clashing with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations brought the event so close to the Royal Cornwall Show that some of the exhibitors were unable to make the move in time and several mechanical breakdowns added to these problems.

Don Johnson from the Robey Trust said: 'We lost our parade of motorbikes due to the show coinciding with the "Horny Toads" Club being away in Paris for the weekend and on top of this as would be expected the rain, though not too bad in Tavistock, did put some off from attending.'

For those who came there was plenty to see, including a substantial collection of miniature engines, which busied themselves running all over the site, and a beautifully restored barrel organ.

The Robey Trust was able to display and offer trailer rides around the town behind four of their well-preserved engines.

'This year we had one additional visiting engine and the ever popular "Stanley" steam car.

'Although attendance was rather depleted this year there were lots of smiling faces to be seen, surely a measure of the success of the fair.

'We are fortunate in being able to use the Bedford and Wharf car parks for this event. This is truly valuable in that it enables us to encourage better attendance when the weather is not so good.'

Mr Johnson expressed thanks to all the helpers and supporters, including officers of the local councils, for their invaluable contributions.?A special mention went to the army cadets who turned up in force and stayed out in the rain to perform their duties.