We don't see steam mowers very often so you can imagine we were quite excited when Steve Schlemmer contacted us earlier this year. Steve's clearly a proficient engineer and he told us that he assembled the steam plant from a machined kit of parts from Maxitrak. It's a modified, 1/3rd scale model of a Welsh quarry locomotive. He then fitted the engine to an Atco motor mower that he bought from another Old Lawnmower Club member. This particular model was chosen because it had a Villiers engine mounted on two, sturdy, angle iron cross members. According to Steve these provided an excellent mounting for the boiler and motion which has full Stephenson reversing gear. The boiler’s fed from both a crank pump and a hand pump. The mower also has a whistle to alert bystanders when moving off and turning.

Our Annual Rally at Milton Keynes Museum on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 May was another great success, with members from all over the UK making the effort to join us. We even had a couple of members from overseas - we are, after all, an international club even if most of our members are in the UK. There was a great variety of machines on display including a number of highly unusual (and one or two unique) examples to be found.

You can look at a selection of mowers and members on two special galleries.

The auction is now an established feature of the Sunday programme and this year we had over 60 lots on sale, including something for every taste and pocket. You can find a full list of entries - with hammer/sale prices - here.