TheHollycombe Steam Collection is a collection ofsteam-powered vehicles, amusement rides, and attractions in South East England. It is based inWest Sussex, but the closest town isLiphook inHampshire. The collection includes fairground rides, a display farm, two railways, and thewoodland gardens.
The collection dates to the late 1940s when Commander John Baldock decided to preserve some steamtraction engines that were rapidly disappearing from British life. By the early 1960s, he had acquired a significant collection of road vehicles and began collectingfairground rides. In the late 1960s, he extended his interests again into preserving railway equipment.
Baldock's collection was opened to the public and became a major tourist attraction. Over time the collection grew so large it became impossible for one person to maintain, and by 1984 Baldock decided he would have to close the operation.
A society was formed by volunteers to operate the collection. This was successful and the collection continued to expand. The collection's bioscope was damaged in theGreat storm of 1987 along with the roof of the then tea room.[1] In the aftermath a Foden timber tractor was used to remove a number of the fallen trees.[1]
At the beginning of 1999, acharitable trust took over most of the collection and its operation, funded by aHeritage Lottery Fund grant.
The Edwardian Fairground offers an example of a steam fair comprising rides originating from the 1870s and later. Rides are built and operated on a seasonal rotation to allow the volunteers of Hollycombe Steam Collection opportunity to maintain and restore the collection. The rides include a Tidman three-abreast Golden Gallopersroundabout, a single steam yacht, and a razzle dazzle (a grand aerial novelty ride with a rotating and tilting movement). S. Fields Steam Circus was built between 1868 and 1872[citation needed] and is the oldest surviving mechanically propelled fairground device. The fairground also has a set of steam swings, a set of Walker Chair-o-Planes, abig wheel, and aBioscope show (an early travelling cinema). The rides are constructed mainly of wood and where appropriate are powered bysteam engines. There are rides for all ages and the atmosphere is completed with a number offairground organs and a range of side stalls.
The farm includes a wide range of vintage steam-powered farm equipment includingploughing engines, athreshing machine, abaler, and astationary steam engine driving small machinery through aline shaft.
The sawmill is used to cut much of the wood used on-site and is powered by a large semi-portable Robey steam engine. Close by is the engine from thepaddle steamerCaledonia.
There are two railways:narrow gauge andminiature. A thirdstandard gauge line formerly operated but is now abandoned; further detail below.
John Clarke Hawkshaw planted over a million trees on the Hollycombe estate from the 1880s, so it is a Victorian garden in origin. Planting continued into the 20th century and then, after a long pause before and after the war years, Clarke's son Oliver planted the one-quarter-mile-long (400 m)Azalea Walk in the mid-1920s, with the new Mollis hybrids from Knaphill. Baldock continued to manage and develop the gardens from the 1950s.[2]
The miniature railway at Hollycombe is7+1⁄4 in (184 mm) gauge.
It starts at the station by the saw mill and climbs past crossing gates and through a cutting. It reaches the top and bends to the left. The fairground is then on the left and the woodland gardens is on the right. It then heads into another cutting before a 360-degree loop onto an embankment. It runs parallel with a five-inch gauge line into the two-platform station.
The collection has over 30 different steam engines of various types.[3]
51°03′26″N0°46′53″W / 51.0571°N 0.7813°W /51.0571; -0.7813
