CROWDS flocked to Barnard Castle School on Sunday for the fourth annual Classic and Retro Car Show.
There was plenty to see at the event, which raises money the town’s Christmas Lights group and Cancer Research UK, from turn of the century classic charabancs through to retro classics – and everything in between.
Organiser and motoring enthusiast Alan Beaty was delighted with the turnout from car owners and spectators alike.
He said: “It’s lovely to see so many people here.
“We’ve got 165 vehicles and the field is pretty full with a nice range.”
Star attraction of the family-friendly show, and possibly the oldest vehicle present, was a 125-year-old agricultural steam traction engine.
The William Foster and Co Ltd engine took an hour and a half to get to the show from Boldron driven by the Kearton steam team, father and son Graham and Simon Taylor.
In addition to the traction engine, named Wendy after his late mother, owner Stephen Kearton brought along several other classic vehicles.
He said: “It would have been used for agricultural threshing in its day.
“I’ve had it for more than 20 years. It was my father’s before so I bought it off him and I suppose I’ve passed on that to my family as well.”
Another work-horse vehicle that gained a lot of interest from spectators was a 1942 Willis Jeep which was used by allied forces in the Second World War, owned by Richard Clarke from Staindrop.
He said: “I bought it in 1983 in the north of Holland. My understanding is that it came ashore in 1944 but we don’t know at what point.
“It ended up in the Arden, at the Battle of the Bulge, in Belgium, and then finally on the island of Henteenbewkis Deel.
“I bought it from there. I used to use it to go to work when I lived in Holland.”
