We always used to take the children to Steam Rallies and Shows when they were young. I guess part of it was I was interested in traction engines, vintage motorcycles and the like.
On one occasion I recall when our son was about 6 years old and he saw they had an attraction with children's motorcycles. The little circuit was surrounded with bales of straw and seemed safe enough. He begged to have a go.
The circuit was on the top of a small hill and we saw him fitted with a crash helmet and off he went going around and around. After a couple of laps he hit a bump and his steering went awry.
He shot towards the bales of straw and, only he could find it! He found the only gap in the bales and shot off out of the circuit and down the hill.
With Alex in full cry dragging the two girl we set off after him with people jumping out of his way totally out of control.
We were shouting, "let go!" Fortunately he did or at least he said he did later. I think he just fell off. Anyway he came to a crumpled heap with the little bike over revving.
All was well. The only danger was to the man who came up moaning about his motorcycle. I dragged Alex away before she did him some damage.
Anyway I still like trains, traction engines and even made steam engines before I got rid of my lathe and tooling. I still paint them. The one above was used for ploughing via a large cable and drum underneath the engine.
Fortunately our son never developed an interest in motorcycles after that. I don't think they were a good match.
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