Although we are concerned with the rally we also have a supporters group with meetings and outings of our own, these are usually related to the type of activity that turn us on, steam, vintage machinery, motorcycles old sorts of old junk really, and that is just the members. 

We even have our own magazine and eventually perhaps our own private section on this web. We also have our own 'T' shirt! Membership fee of £8 a year, more details when we get the time. If you cannot wait then contact:-

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Not just for Hollowell Steam or the suporters, there is a chat 'Steam' forum you could join click here

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All are welcome to our meetings, non members included, you may even want to join us !

Existing members can also use this form for renewals (due 1 Feb 2003) print it out trim to size so it fits our file box ! (Remember to set your printer to one page)

An example of our latest trips out was our Loughborough Bell foundry and The Great Central Railway September 28th at a cost of £11

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Some articles and sales and wants will be published here periodically after our full members have had first chance (A good reason to join us!) Deadline for articles Etc 15th Feb - 15th May - 15th Aug - 15th Nov

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Thursday April 17th            Supporters Club Meeting Hollowell Village hall 7-30 for 8pm.

                                             Guest speaker Michael Gates.

                                             Travels of a Freelance Journalist

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April 19th 20th & 21st         Easter Working Weekend on the Rally Field

                               General tidying up, painting and other maintenance. Some of us will be taking caravans etc and staying overnight. You are all ALL  welcome to come along for all or part of the weekend. Ring Chas or Allen for more details.

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May 3rd 4th & 5th           Rushden Cavalcade

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May 25th & 26th   Lamport Steam & Country Fair

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Wanted Land Rover 101 forward control Ambulance parts, spare set of wheels, starting handle, inner sliding glass screen, two smoked glass rear windows (a free tanker full of petrol would be nice !) leo@hollowellsteam.com 

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Chairman:

Mr Chas Rycraft

The Laurels,                       

  Hollowell,

Northampton, NN6 8RW

Tel:  01604 -740386

Vice Chairman:

Mr Alan Stocker

Bretton House, 

16 Burrows Vale,

Brixworth, Northants

Tel:  01604-882051

Treasurer / Membership

Secretary:

Mrs Jane Eaton

Brickle House, Hollowell Road,

Creaton, Northants,

NN6 8NU

Tel 01604-505422

Secretary / Editor:

Leo Wood

16 West End

Welford

Northampton

NN6 6HJ

  Tel:  01858 575782          supporters@hollowellsteam.com  

  Snip From The First Newsletter

Welcome everyone to the first newsletter from the Hollowell Steam Supporters Group.

Our First meeting took place in Hollowell Village Hall on Thursday 30th March 2000. It was very well supported with over forty of the ninety members (at that time) present.

I thank you (I think) for electing me as your first Chairman and hope that I can live up to the job.

 With the start of the rally season our meetings are going to be quite widely spaced, but come the autumn we hope that we can get together more often.

  Moving on from this let me try to tell you a little about myself and how I became involved in the Hollowell Steam Rally.

  I live in Hollowell and have been a member of the Steam Rally Committee since it all started in the winter of 1985 / 6. My main interest is vintage and classic motorcycles and I was asked if I could organise a display of bikes at the first rally. I have done this ever since!

After the first year I got involved with the late Stan Howard in the production of road / field signs for the rally, this was mainly because of my ability as a footwear pattern cutter to produce cheap stencils and also I had a compressor and spray gun at home.

Stan would paint the boards and bring them over to me in his wheelbarrow for the lettering to be done. We would use any colour of paint that we could get as long as it was free. Sadly, Stan passed away after about five years and I inherited the board painting as well. About this time I persuaded the Committee that it would be a good idea to have all the signs in the same colors to try and develop a corporate “Image”. Black lettering on flow as used by the AA was chosen and has now become known jokingly Committee meetings as “Chas yellow”. Every year we put out about 200) road / field signs ranging from 8ft square advertising boards, down to car park signs and field direction boards. 

About four years ago we had three large signs made by Dave Rose of D.H. Sign and Display Services of Teeton. Since then Dave has also made us several main field ones, and this year 16 5ft square road signs for use at main locations. He does all this and only charges us for the raw materials. 

I usually make about fifty new signs each year to cover loss by damage and theft. Also the date needs changing every year on most of the road signs. Interestingly the black and Chas yellow T-shirts have been a spin off of this idea of a corporate image. 

Well that’s about it but I must add that I am very well supported by my wife Jacquie who is minutes secretary for the rally and also quite good at getting Yellow paint off my clothes!!

Chas Rycraft (Chairman)

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Article in December 2002 Newsletter - Leo Wood

Over the last 12 months I have been attempting to rebuild an ex military land rover, not content with the usual 109” or 110”  I decided to go for the 101” forward control ambulance, it may not look it but really a Range Rover on stilts and steroids,  with the engine being ‘inside’ all that wasted space taken up with the bonnet is used and it is almost ready made for a camper conversion or accommodation as it is. My intention was to have a vehicle that could be displayed and get me in free at rallies without the need for tent or caravan!

After hunting around for specimens I soon found that most of the really good ones had been purchased, any good being sold were out of my price range, finally I found a stock of ‘as found’ non runners, what I wanted was one that had a good body and chassis as even with the ‘good’ ones after twenty years of army maintenance I wanted to check all its innards.

Eventually after hours of prodding chassis members and checking for missing parts I selected one at Withams near Grantham. With the aid of Eaton transport’s low loader It was transported to Welford. Getting into my yard, as I have difficulty getting a large car in let alone 3 tons of non runner was overcome by Allen using the tractor unit and a rigid tow bar, inch perfect to where I wanted it, thanks Allen. A 90 deg turn with 2 inches clearance through the gate way!

The first problem was then evident—no gears! I was not too concerned as any gearbox that had been used by squadies  was suspect and in any case the ultra low gearing would have to be changed, the original gearing at 5000 revs in low first results in 4mph!

At least the engine, front axle and prop shafts had been recently renewed and it had only done 10000 km -  The engine ran very well and somehow most of the electrics worked even though the wiring was patched with  scotch locks and cable runs you would not believe.

A few weeks later the terrorist attacks on the USA resulted in almost all available 101 ambulances being exported to the US for use as mobile biological bunkers so I was just in time, apparently US military vehicles are cut up to render them unusable, strange in a country that allows you to buy and use machine guns! I even had offers of twice what I paid for mine unseen from the USA

The gear box was removed, not an easy task as you can imagine as it is well packed away, this revealed the clutch was totally destroyed and some nasty metal objects in both the gear and transfer boxes. Fortunately the gear box is an early V8 Range Rover apart from gearing and the output shaft and bell housing being shorter to reduce the prop shafts angle. On splitting the box the damage was minimal so far as the important gears and bearings were concerned although the main shaft spline groove for the circlip had disintegrated. A donor box found for me by Dave Phelps supplied the bits, including high ratio gears for the transfer box, again a bit of luck as the innards of this one was in excellent condition being recently overhauled

While the gear box is being fettled by Dave as my knowledge of gearboxes would probably result in 4 reverse gears and a big bang. I am proceeding to remove several Kuwait sand dunes from underneath and remove and de rust and then hammerite all the steel components brake pipes and any other gubbins I could take off and clean. With the loan of our Chairman’s compressor and spray gun I have coated all the underside with red oxide, note the coated, not an easy job lying on your back. Why do the army use so much paint? No preparation, just bang it on with a yard brush, 11 coats in all. In some places 1/8th of an inch thick but only where it can be seen, underneath was ignored. A pleasant surprise though, most of the beast was in excellent condition—so it should be though as they are reputed to have cost the tax payers £46,000 in 1982!

I have had a varied selection of old vehicles in my time including a series 3 Land rover and to work on one that unbolted without sledge hammer and wrecking bar is wonderful! As the body is aluminium but on a steel chassis I am trying to protect all the bits that may rust, a little ambitious as it is no lightweight even with an alloy body it tips the scales at 3 tons. the philosophy seems to have been work out how thick you need the material and then double it so the small amount of rust is only surface.

Paint removal from the exterior is a nightmare though, five or six coats of ‘cabbage and black’ that resists anything but a flame thrower, one owner reputedly used 100 litres of nitromores paint stripper! so thick that even the slightest knock chips off until you try to take it all off, all those rivets joining panels are murder, I am getting It all off slowly with the invaluable help of my son on the promise he can use it for going to pop festivals, at least Glastonbury mud should not be a problem. The full length ‘piano’ hinges on the rear doors, red cross flap hinges and battery storage locker and fuel tank are steel and exposed so require immediate treatment if they are to survive another 20 years. The alloy is not too much of a rush job to get painted.