Hundreds of steam enthusiasts and families attended a festival of food, cider and a celebration of gleaming dragons of the road at the weekend.

The monsters of the road breathed fire, hissed steam and belched coal smoke as they attracted fascinated visitors to a steam engine open day in Tavistock for the Robey Trust Sausage, Cider and Steam Fair from Saturday to Sunday, October 25-26.

The overall-clad engineers of the Robey Trust flung open the doors of their engine shed and workshops off Pixon Lane so the public could see their fleet of characterful steam engines.

Visitors were shown the mechanisms of the well-oiled and polished brass and iron engines which once helped build the roads of the county.

Throughout the event, trust volunteers kept on feeding the voracious metal giants with coal and oiling the many moving parts.

The most popular part of the event among the visitors was the chance to go back in time more than 100 years and take a trailer ride round the town, drawn by a steam engine.

Steam riders and locals exchanged waves as the dramatic historical sight invariably drew smiles from shoppers and dog walkers on the way around the town centre.

Alex Masters, Robey Trust chairman, was busy labouring over the barbecue cooking burgers and hot dogs as the hungry visitors queued.

He said: “We’ve been really busy and so lucky with the weather. This is the one day of the year when we open to the public and show off our stationary and moving engines.

“People seem really interested in the engines and who can blame them? The engines really come alive and draw the crowd wherever we show them, so to have so many in one small place is a rare chance to see history in motion.

“We play a valuable role here training apprentices in engineering for employers and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers recognises this and has attended for the first time.”