A cheerful toot from a steam whistle greeted the special train as it drew into Settle station after a tenth anniversary run to Carlisle.

The whistle came from Western Star, alias Road Loco No 12899, parked in the station yard and paying its own tribute to a railway saved from closure.

When the diesel-hauled train of 12 coaches had departed for Skipton, I turned my attention to a splendid traction engine, which was built in 1912 by John Fowler & Co, of Leeds. It had made a conspicuous progress from a steam rally in Settle market place to give the railway train a rousing welcome and perhaps to make up for the absence of a steam locomotive.

I half-expected to see Fred Dibnah, the Bolton steam celebrity, grinning down at me and remarking in his endearing way: "Did you like that?"

A Malhamdale farmer who was one of the spectators as Western Star and another imposing engine blended their whistles in joyful salute to the diesel-special, recalled threshing days during the 1939-45 war. The engine itself was virtually noiseless - the thresher clattered and rats squeaked as they deserted a sinking stack.

Western Star, built in 1912, was first known as Little Gem. It is now Yorkshire-owned after serving for many years in Wales, where its jobs included providing the power for stone-crushing, sawbench work and forestry. The driver, Chris, son of Stuart Harrison, lives at Whiteshaw, Denholme. His family have a bakery in Elland.

The ten-and-three-quarter ton Western Star is taken to steam events and in summer is frequently to be seen travelling between Denholme and Haworth, during which people can have "hands-on" experience of this stately old form of traction.

Western Star covers about 5,000 miles a year at an average speed of ten miles an hour. In the northward journey from Denholme to Settle, the engine had consumed about a hundredweight of coal.

It also used a few hundred gallons of water for a tank that is replenished at the handiest spot. A favourite place is the canal at Kildwick.

In tow, for the recent Settle event, was a Grantham living van, dating from the 1930s and splendidly restored. The van was the sort used by old-time roadmen, being fitted with bunks and a coal-burning stove.

When I chatted with Chris, he was in the process of eating a hot meat and potato pie and naturally I asked him how it had been warmed up? Had it been placed on a shovel and licked by flames from the fire?

The pie was covered in tin foil, paced in a tin and slipped into the smoke box of the engine for about half-an-hour. Bacon and eggs had been cooked on a shovel over the open fire. A covering of tin foil ensured the food was kept clean.

In the old days, water could be drawn from the boiler for making tea. Now that chemicals are added to the water to protect the metal, it is not suitable for human consumption.

Travelling showmen owned the giants of the traction engine world. They arrived at fairs which were held up and down the Dales and impressed visitors not only by their size but by their capacity to operate and light up the fairground attractions.

One of them, named Lightning, was a favourite of the late Tom Guy, whose interest in it began in boyhood, when it visited Bentham, and continued to the very end of his life.

Having retired from the art department at Leeds Girls High School, he devoted up to a year to completing just one of a series of large paintings of showground scenes. A canvas that was still on his attic easel at the time of his death was completed by his brother-in-law John Richards, of Newby, near Clapham.

Chris Harrison told me that he and his father Stuart had collected what remained of a Fowler engine from Bournemouth using a low-loader. The engine was completely restored.

My last view of Western Star was at Coniston Cold on the following day. I had been to Skipton and was now returning home along the A65.

The Fowler engine and its green-painted van had been drawn off the road, giving way to faster traffic. The engine steamed quietly in the sunshine of a springtime afternoon.

The late Bill Cowley, a well-known writer and broadcaster about farming in Yorkshire, introduced me to a neighbour who had worked with threshing machines for 35 years, many of them with steam. "Aye," he said, "for 12 years during the season I was never in bed after 5am. It took two hours to raise steam and we had to start work at eight."

He had enjoyed the experience. It was much better than an office job.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.