Engine Punk

A Tasker Little Giant showman's tractor basks in the sunshine with a Robey convertible in the background - that's convertible as in convertible from a tractor to a roller. At last the sun really shone and, after weeks of rumours that the the Boconnoc Steam Fair would be cancelled like so many others due to boggy conditions, we all got horrendously sunburnt. Not that anybody really minded. Just look at everyone glowing in the sunshine. A VX4/90 and a Dolomite Sprint sink their differences and wallow in bonhomie  It struck me that although there were many, many cars at the show, there weren't that many bikes. If the bikes lacked in numbers, the quality was high. This proddy racer Commando was my favourite bike. But there were loads of tractors and the tractor pulling was good to watch. Rear wheels spinning, tyre cleats getting smaller with ever run and the front wheels skipping across the ground with big engines on open pipes - luvverly! I particularly e...

That's me on the left, looking vaguely spiritual but feeling more like The Hooded Claw in that hat, as I proselytise (good word) with my Suzuki clutch tool and a wooden raygun that I found - fashioned by the forces of nature itself - by the tracks of the Liskeard and Caradon Railway The Steampunk movement in Cornwall has been growing steadily during 2011 since a like-minded group of scientists, inventors, artists, explorers, adventurers, dollymopps, ruffians and natural philosophers had a bit-of-a-do fighting a squid in Falmouth last April. Organised by a variety of inspired and industrious individuals under the collective identity of Steampunk Kernow, notable members of our illustrious circle have subsequently survived a hot-air balloon crash, broken innumerable speed records on the Bodmin & Wenford railway (the cream teas went especially quickly) and cavorted with specially created daleks and oods in a Dr Who-themed Christmas party in The Bird in Hand, an ancient coachi...

Steam Punk is a close but older relative of Engine Punk. I don’t want to get bogged down in defining differences right now - I aspire to breakdown barriers not reinforce them - but with the exciting prospect of the Steampunk Kernow party in Falmouth , with its nautical theme and evocation of the age of exploration, I’ve indulged in some ancestral delving into the first generation steam punk activities of my grandfather's favourite uncle. From an ancient scrapbook, I am fortunate to have this watercolour self-portrait of Great Uncle Walter. On the same page were very small photos of gondolas and heavily flooded streets. Great Uncle Walter is world famous in my family. Like me, he was a man of many parts, except that most of mine are old car and bike parts. Great Uncle Walter was an artist, a photographer, sailor, entrepreneur, founder member of the Falmouth volunteer fire brigade and inventor. His portrait of the Mayor of Falmouth still hangs in the civic chambers. Among his sur...