The Great Dorset Steam Fair 1981 - Jack's Country

In 1981 we made a this film on The Great Dorset Steam Fair. This historic documentary was shot on film and tells the complete story from harvesting the corn, bringing the steam engines to site and the thrill of The Great Dorset Steam Fair.
The video is narrated by the legendary Michael Oliver who was a founder member of the show.
#greatDorsetSteamFair #JacksCountry #steamfairs
The original music this video is from Scartaglen.
Cameraman: Peter Phillips
Editor: Peter Phillips & Dave Knowles
Director: Dave Knowles
About Jack's Country:
I used to work as and editor on Out of Town with Jack Hargreaves and then went on to make 60 programmes with him called Old Country for Channel 4 as producer/editor.
Jack mainly lived in Hampshire and Dorset and most of his programmes were shot in these two counties. They told the day to day life in the countryside and introduced us to many of the country crafts that still existed in those days.
I am making a series of films on KZbin about the subjects that Jack would have included in his TV programmes. I am not trying to recreate Out of Town or Old Country as this would be impossible without Jack's wonderful story telling but what I am hoping to do is make films on subjects that Jack may have chosen to make programmes on.
I do hope you enjoy them and if you have any suggestions on subjects you would like to be covered please let me know in the comments section.
All the best
Dave Knowles - director, cameraman, editor.
For more about Jack go to my site jackscountry.c...

[@rensha8635]

When England was quieter, and the rural roads a pleasure to walk and ride. This film is wonderful. Interesting the man in this film reminisces about going back to what England used to be and now we would be satisfied to return To 1981 😀

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you I am so pleased you enjoyed it.

[@AquaFonic]

Gosh to think that’s now 40 YEARS AGO .... the good ole days ... THANKS for this

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Yes it was a long time ago but I thought I should put it up as for its historical value.

[@eliotreader8220]

@@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker its certainly interesting footage about the Great Dorset steam fair. lovely listening to the voice of Mike Oliver the show's founder.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

@@eliotreader8220 Micheal was a great story teller. For the voice over he sat with us in our studio for maybe 2 hours telling us tales of the steam fair. I then spent the week leading up to steam fair every day with him. Happy Days.

[@xxTheJesterxx]

Oh for a return to this way of life.

[@piplee1439]

I wanna get off 2022

[@charliedoherty5965]

Yes..the young people lack what we need for this way of life..alot of them lazy and not to well switched on

[@GLK-London]

Simpler more gentle times. Thank you for this lovely film.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

My pleasure. I am so pleased you enjoyed it.

[@DollysplitBand]

Treasuring your channel, Dave. I'm turning 25 this year and have lived in bournemouth my whole life, yet have found little opportunity in my adult years to experience the rich and fascinating history of the place I live. Thank you for reminding me of what truly matters. Will be purchasing the old country DVD.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you for your nice comments and I am so pleased you are enjoying the channel. There is a lot more to come so please keep watching.

[@stephenrice4554]

I know that sometimes you can't see what's in front of you until someone goes look , over there ! Hope you find a lifetimes worth of interest and value .

[@philforbes7467]

If jack had a day out with Fred dibnah

[@1258-Eckhart]

So I watched this exactly 40 years later and 33 years after I myself was at the Dorset Steam Fair. The day was sunny and dry. I grew up in Yorkshire and we had a similar steam fair every year at Harewood House.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Sunny and dry that was a rare event in those days at the steam fair.

[@royleonard1963]

I worked with the man driving the Massey Ferguson digger. Arthur Fields. What a lovely man. It brought some great memories back. Great video. 👍

[@alanm6454]

I remember that my uncle Mick worked for a landowner who would buy anything to do with the steam fairs and it was my uncles job to recondition it and get it going. Uncle was a master wood carver and always had parts from steam organs, merry-go-round parts and a host of other attractions that he was working on in his shed. He would take me and my brother up to the fairground after where we free rides all afternoon. Happy days and great memories.

[@trisrush9155]

Mr Oliver’s wise words never ring truer than in 2021…

[@Lutonbodyhome]

I think this may have been the year that I got dragged onto the stage in the main beer tent to play the swizzle stick by my mum and the infamous Ockford Moppies. Ockford being Okeford Fitzpaine, the village that has the Royal Oak pub where Michael Oliver showed the S+D film and where the steam fair was conceived. This is where I grew up. The Moppies were a thoroughly disreputable folk comedy group made up of mum, her best friend Heather and a chap named Gordon from Shaftesbury. They toured Dorset in the early 80s and even ventured across the border into Somerset on the odd occasion I believe, plying a mix of risque folk tunes and comedy skits. Fond memories :D

[@klisher]

😂😂 Thanks for that.

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

You ought to do more about the Ockford Moppies. I just looked them up and your comment is the only mention of them on the whole of the internet.

[@KillingDeadThings]

Thank you for these videos. Reminds me of better times. The last Steam rally/fair I was at was in 2007. The final one my Father and I attended as he died a few months later. The smell is something to be experienced lol. I've an older brother that built a small Steam Tractor from scratch, the boiler, every rivet and part of it he milled and lathed himself over many years. We used it to tow my father's coffin to the Cemetary.

[@rensha8635]

How lovely that you did that for your father in his memory. I’m sure he was very proud of you.

[@splatten8597]

Thank you Dave. Jack was such a wonderful man and great camera work

[@AquaFonic]

And that is how the ploughman’s lunch was born LOVE IT !

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Not sure ce to think so.

[@steveosborne2297]

Nice idea but unfortunately the “ploughman’s lunch” was invented as a marketing ploy by , I think , the cheese marketing board in the 1960s . Most pubs of the time didn’t sell food and this was looked on as a simple way for them to increase business ( although I’ve no doubt that they took inspiration from farm labourers food)

[@shereenlawford3220]

Really enjoyed that, I've been to Stourpiane now called The Great Dorset for years and this will be the 2nd year its not on due to covid, I really miss it

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

We had a great time making the film and spent hours with Michael Oliver listening to his stories.

[@bryantreacher5793]

I went to this event at stourpain busses several times it was held near the end of September and you needed your wellies as it was always muddy but enjoyable.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

You sure did need wellies as you say.We had to even pull the ambulance out as that year it was so muddy.

[@eastcoastandy2905]

Wonderful trip down memory lane. The people and the weather much the same, only their expectations are changing now. Thanks for the reminder.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you Andy. All the best Dave daveknowles.net/jacks-country/

[@nw8000]

Very good this...MORE!!

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you so pleased you enjoyed it.

[@stevejeffrey7948]

Thanks for the memories. Nowadays it is more a beer festival and a chance for the lads to have a ruck.

[@jackglossop4859]

watch this not as a man who looks upon the past, but as a man who lives in the present. Be the best you possibly can be NOW.

[@andrewthick185]

Dear Mr Knowles, Father took us there several times in the seventies and it was beautiful. Thank you for putting this online.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

My pleasure so pleased you enjoyed it and it brought back old memories.

[@diabolicalartificer]

What a beautiful film, I love the narration particularly. Never been to a steam fair but reminds me of festivals I went to in the same era, thanks....DA.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

+Diabolical Artificer Thank you for your nice comments and I am so pleased you enjoyed my film. Micheal Oliver (one of the flounder members of Stourpaine) who did the voice over certainly was a one off.

[@eliotreader8220]

@@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker i have been going to the show since 2007 we sadly had miss out on the 2020 and 2021 Great dorset steam fairs due to Covid 19

[@splatten8597]

Coming from candle or gas light to see the electric lights! Truly a wonderland

[@piplee1439]

It was called Stourpaine Bushes Steam Rally. Edward Sampson, my great uncle helped start the plough match in the 60s

[@pip110.5]

Absolutely brilliant, more please. Thank you.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you. We lived up there for two weeks making this and had lots of fun.

[@orsonkaart1853]

Excellent , thank you!

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you Orson I am so glad you enjoyed it. All the best Dave daveknowles.net/jacks-country/

[@PurityVendetta]

Can't remember which year we went but it was absolutely brilliant if a bit commercialised. We bought a pipe bender for a fab price at the jumble.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I haven’t been for many years but had great fun making the film.

[@SCCFORUM]

Hi David, That was amazing. Thank you for sharing. All my best, Paul.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

His Paul, I was not sure how it would go down but I already had nice comments Like yours so thank you so much. All the best Dave

[@darrenleroy]

@@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker This stuff brings a smile to my face. You've inadvertently recorded an accent that is heard less and less nowadays. Thank you.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Having lived in Dorset it was familiar to me Paul so I had never thought that it was an accent that is heard less and less.

[@robertcorradi8573]

Brilliant.....

[@fergushooper9755]

Hello David, that was wonderful, pity it didn't play for another hour. Thankyou.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you Fergus. The original As released on DVD was about 1 hour long. I was considering offering it for sale again. What do you think. All the best Dave daveknowles.net/jacks-country/

[@fergushooper9755]

@@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker Yes, do, l think a lot of people would be very interested.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I will see this week what I can do. The DVD is around 1 hour long. And there is also the cassette.

[@StephenBoyd21]

Not a mobile phone in sight. People are actually having fun rather than simply staring at screens. Bliss.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

+Stephen Boyd Yes it is hard to remember those days no mobile phones and the only small computers were things like the Commodore 64 and the Pet.

[@TS-1267]

,,, ✨ HORRIBLE WHEN YOUR FODEN IS DOWN TO THE AXLES. BRILLIANT VIDEO ✨,,, 👍🍿🏁

[@morrislouiseeagle7161]

Marvelous slice of history thank you so much for sharing this with us ❤️👏😁x

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you for your nice comment. I am so pleased you enjoyed my programme. All the best Dave daveknowles.net/jacks-country/

[@TheAdvancedMusic]

Lovely Devon/Hampshire accents in this clip. Thanks Dave Knowles, for sharing your time capsules with us younger folk.

[@Sir.Fisher]

Dorset/Hampshire

[@eliotreader8220]

i really liked watching this because me and my dad have been going to the great Dorset steam fair sinc 2007 but sadly we could not go there this year because of all the trouble that Covid 19 has caused this year.

[@julianlangdon3456]

Sadly gone now, but had a fab day out at the Scarborough Fair Museum recently; with images of the GDSF and some of the exhibits

[@copee2960]

My father knew a retired showman who once owned a steam powered wooden horse galloper, he lived in cambridge and his name was Alf O'Conner i believe......he still had one of the old wooden horses out back in his shed.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Wow I would love one of those.

[@nigelperyer9354]

This brings back so many memories for me my father was a member of Poole and district model railway club and in the early years of stourpaine they always had a display and I remember going there with him and watching cars and lorries being dragged up the muddy hill by tractors to get out onto the road and thats one of the reasons it was moved to tarrant Hinton besides tarrant is a much bigger site I used to go religiously every year as a part of my holidays for a long time but now I'm living abroad I haven't been for about 10 years and miss my time I used to spend there but I'm coming back to the UK in 2023 and will definitely be at tarrant Hinton thanks for the memories

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thoroughly enjoyed that Dave, thanks

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you I am glad you enjoyed it. All the best Dave daveknowles.net/jacks-country/

[@williamkinnear345]

Just made my Sunday

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you William I am so pleased you enjoyed it. All the best Dave.

[@mathewgreen4099]

Some great scenes, many thanks for posting.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thanks it was great fun to make and spending so my time with the late Michael Oliver while we filmed it was wonderful.

[@johnathanryan2117]

All this film needed was Fred Dibnah to rock up on his traction engine. Old industrial England meeting Old Rural England presided over by Jack Hargreaves. Perfection .

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I think if I remember correctly I met Fred at Stourpaine that year.

[@paulgabolinscy2502]

Thanks for uploading. Thoroughly enjoyed it

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

+Paul Gabolinscy Thank you Paul. I am so pleased you enjoyed the programme.

[@davidlloyd3116]

Proud and British. I miss all that. I used to really enjoy going to those fairs as a kid.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

It hasn’t changed much over the years just got a lot bigger.

[@dewipeach]

It's taken until now to find the film. But I was there..!! went to the early ones and this 81.. sea of mud.. but on the good years none better. Never see it all in a day.. and the fair at night. Times there with Dad, would recall working this all his life, Talked for hours with the owner of Burrell Lord Kitchener as was local to home with Threshing Contractors, Dad liked the engine at Threshing time as didn't have to fetch so much water, used little water as compound engine and likely the belly tank.. their other Engine was a single, worked harder and so the water usage. War time coal shortage.. running up the Thresher with the Fordson Dad nearly rattled it to pieces, you then realize and understand the gently power a Steam Engine supplies.. after all their 4 - 7 NHP at most. Recalled in detail about the Fair in our Market Town Square, Lite Engines powering the Rides and the Organ Music.. Fire, Water and Oil what a smell.. if you've ever known it.. then you know. Like the Cydermaking.. Hic.. I'd missed the last ones at Stourpaine bushes and now for distance not been to the New Show Sit.. But as long as there's YT. Yet far from being the same as there. Cheers

[@christopherjohns968]

Excellent. A fantastic watch. Thank you.

[@sitemaster12]

pure magic

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you

[@patricksullivan7854]

Nice. Very good camera.

[@anthonygiglio9860]

Great Video😊

[@robinking6201]

What’s crazy to me all the vehicles that you see are now exhibits there selfs

[@jeffhubbard5660]

A better way of life. Thanks for the upload.........

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

My pleasure thank you for watching.

[@darrenleroy]

My father had an old car, well if it started up and went we went, and if the bugger didn't get out in the garden and dig that.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

When we made the programme we recorded and released on an audio cassette of Michael asking about the show and it was full of lovely comments such as this Darren. All the best Dave daveknowles.net/jacks-country/

[@YAHUAHsgotmysix]

That was priceless wasn't it 😄

[@eliotreader8220]

I believe they had owned a steam engine from 1968 and then forgot about it for many years and then rediscovered it with a tree growing through the footplate. but sadly the late Michael Oliver never saw the old girl move under her old steam. her name Is Lord Jellicoe

[@richdorset]

Went in 1975-ish. There was a tent to see a Water Otter...It was a kettle.

[@impguardwarhamer]

Somethings never change, the dorset steam fair is still bassically this

[@barkershill]

Erm…. Just read that it will probably never run again . Rumour has it the insurance was too high

[@paulaidan8079]

Great documentary. Lovely rural accents as well. Thanks for sharing. The background music is questionable: Irish traditional melodies played by the Kansas band, Scartaglen (named after a village in County Kerry, Ireland). Music indigenous to England would probably have fitted better..

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you so much for your lovely comments. The band though must be another Scartaglen because they were friends of the cameraman and came into our studio in Winchester to record the music for it.

[@etinarcadiaego3296]

P...n qu'est-ce qu'on a perdu, c'était le bon temps, je suis de 68 et j'ai vécu ça en Bretagne.

[@barryroach1980]

Strange but i prefer the camera work before drones.......especially when spotty knocks down the boxer!

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Hi Barry, I do agree that drones are far too over used also on so many KZbin programmes the people making it forget they need to tell a story rather than a series of non related shots.

[@peterchessell28]

When England was England not the sorry place it is now.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Well it is all we have so must make the best of it.

[@jonathanpope81]

thank you

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

My pleasure. I hope you enjoyed the programme.

[@frenchhouseforsale1498]

At 1.34 Diver Kent an old customer and friend from Parkstone Poole where he was a common site on the Ashley Road with his Knife Sharpening skills. Sadly no longer with us.

[@susanbrown2909]

Like the old steam engine fairs. Rural England...some parts still sacred.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

+susan brown its great the steam fairs and similar events are still very popular with the young and old and to many it is the only window to old rural England.

[@robinking6201]

Must admit it’s nice to see something that doesn’t say made in China on it .

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I think that is what Michael Oliver said wasn’t it?

[@coxhoe789]

I remember it as stourpain steamers and it allways pissed down

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

It certainly did seem to always rain. As you can see from the video is was very wet the year we filmed it.

[@ravenmadd1343]

The amazing thing is that the commentator talks about 1981 being a rat race where people work harder and run about just to have the latest thing and bury themselves in debt! In 1981!? I was 11 then and I look back at that time as a simpler time. What wold he say if,back then, he could see what living today is like because I'm saying the same thing to friends now who agree with me! I pity our children, at least there was some freedom then now computer track everything we do.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Remember there was a deep recession in 1981 as the government tried to control inflation. The recession particularly hit manufacturing causing unemployment to rise to over 3 million. We always look back and think things were better but I remember my youngest daughter once asking if she would ever know in her lifetime, a time when we would be out of recession. She is now 40 years old.

[@piplee1439]

I attended from 76 til 82.

[@neilmcmillan2144]

do you have the film of Jack at youngs farm supplies in Misterton near crewkerne somerset? I would love to see it again.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

No I am afraid not Neil.

[@pedallinraw]

And here we are in 2022.....😐

[@Chambers101]

Very good, My late father used to go to the show in the 80's and 90's. Did you ever go to any of the Off Road weekends at Bovington in the 80's?.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

No I have never done any off roading but you certainly needed an off road vehicle in those days of Stourpaine as it always rained and the ground was so muddy. When we filmed it I was lent a Suzuki Jimny but the local Suzuki agent and I remember having to pull an ambulance (that had got stuck in the mud) out with it.

[@Chambers101]

@@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker My mum also told me one of my uncles lived at Okeford Fitzpaine, and that my dad saw Jack in the pub once there.

[@grahamallison8641]

prophetical

[@bruce8429]

What is it about older film that makes it "pop" in the minds eye. The brighter more vibrant colors. Why can't digital get that? Digital might be more accurate but it's not as much fun.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Yes there is still something about film that video still cannot create. Arri with their latest 35 at $75,000 is the only one that gets almost there and I think their images are beautiful.

[@dduck1585]

A suggestion, shoot on film for a timeless look to any production, so much more sole than video capture

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I still love film but the cost is far too much these days. To buy and process 400 feet of 16mm film (about 11 minutes) is around £125 to £150. Even in Jacks day it was still very expensive especially as we had probably a shooting ratio of 4 or 5 :1.

[@dduck1585]

@@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker 16mm is cheaper to shoot than std 8 these days, with shipping, stock costs, processing is around £85-100 for a 25ft roll of colour 8mm.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

@@dduck1585 Possibly. In the days we shot this film though we were pioneering super 8 as Kodak had a big push to make it a professional format. I edited two TV documentaries both shot on super 8mm but unfortunately the quality was not really there especially as you had to transfer it to tape for broadcast or to make CDs or DVD’s from.

[@AlanEvans789]

@@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker Having shot and edited a fair bit of both Standard 8 and Super 8 in the mid/late 70's with my dad, I'm really surprised at the quality of the transfers you have from it. I'm not sure what happened with all the film when my dad passed. Guess I have some investigating to do.

[@nomad90125]

Help" I'm a long way from home.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I always feel a steam fair is very British.

[@gloriouskodachrome]

How come this was captured on super 8 and not 16mm? Super 8, much better than any video tape system. Any idea of camera and filmstock used on this production?

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Cost was the controlling factor. This was don as a speculation project and we had the super 8mm camera with separate sound. This meant the only cost was the film stock/processing and our time. The programme was shot on Kodak reversal and the finished edit was transferred using a broadcast telecine with super 8mm head (the only one in London at the time) onto 1”C format. Where it all fell down was the bad grading by the telecine operator who always insisted that each shot had one volt peak to peak no matter whether it had highlights in or not.

[@sarelvanwyk693]

Would it be possible to visit the old country as a holiday.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I am sure it would.

[@matthewbishop9342]

And now in 2024 it has come to an end due to cost.

[@nickbanham8750]

quite frightening.. it looks older than 1981 and we are all slaves to Apple nowadays, after all there's always a new phone..

[@markashdown2368]

Does anyone know the tune that starts at 8.38 please

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Sorry Mark I am not sure. All the music for the film was traditional and played by a folk group specially for us.

[@mrdbaker2ubaker182]

Thumbs down from Jeff Bezos