Strumpshaw Steam Museum

On 9 July, Andy and I were lucky enough to celebrate the (second) wedding of our friends Tracey and Justin at Strumpshaw.  (They had been married the previous month in Crete, but, sadly, we had been unable to join them, so were delighted to be part of their second wedding in the UK.)

We weren't very organised to be honest - what's new? - we had been invited to camp overnight but hadn't sorted out overnight care for Finn and I think the bivvy was probably still down at Heathrow, or at least in Andy's van, and we had taken my car too.  Disaster! 

Strumpshaw steam museum is run entirely by volunteers and Tracey's brother, Freddie, is involved, which is why the venue was chosen.  It also had a fab little camp site and was in a fabulous setting - while we waited for the bride and groom (who incidentally turned up on a motorbike and sidecar!), we sat around on straw bales under a huge oak tree, soaking up the sun and drinking prosecco.  Perfect.  (Not to mention snooping around the caravans and tents to see what we were missing out on!)

After the meal and the speeches, we got to spend some time in the museum - what a place!  I didn't take my big camera sadly - I had a posh little handbag to go with my posh little dress! - so had to rely on my 'phone camera so some of the photos are a bit ropey.  And Andy kept disappearing - boys' toys, say no more - so I had to resort to taking quite a lot of selfies of me with cars! 

It was pretty much just an opportunity for Andy to piss about with a load of agricultural and industrial machinery! Although, to be fair, he wasn't the only one.

 (This photo is rather blurry and I think that was due to the inebriation of the photographer.  He also seems to have captured his thumb on film too!)

We found the hall of mirrors ...

And a gypsy caravan, which was made for Andy ...

The museum opened the rides ...

It was magical, a really wonderful day.