On the Saturday morning,  the weather was very wet whilst Members were opening up the Dragline and preparing the site for our visitors. It became fine around noon and remained so for most of the afternoon. On the Sunday it was fine all day. We had around two hundred visitors, including some enthusiasts from Wigton in Cumbria. One visitor arrived in a Trabant car, which was a “first” for our Open Days. In addition to exploring the Machine, inside and outside, visitors enjoyed watching the working models in the Substation, also the DVDs of Draglines at work, which were running throughout the day. Our souvenir Dragline mugs were very popular which helped with our fundraising, and we were pleased to receive some inquiries about Membership. New Members are always very welcome, and if any of them feel able to assist with Stewarding on Open Days or general maintenance at other times, please either speak to a Steward on an Open Day or get in touch by email on  contactus@walkingdragline.org

Don’t forget our double Open Days this weekend, Saturday and Sunday the 12th and 13th of September. These Open Days are part of the local Heritage Weekend, during which people may visit many local places, some of which are not normally open to the public. Our giant machine, Oddball, will be open for visitors from 2pm to 4pm on both days. Admission to Oddball is free, and there is plenty of free parking on-site.

There was light rain for most of the morning whilst Members were opening up and preparing Oddball ready for the public to attend the Open Day. However, at around one o’clock, it became fine and sunny, and remained so for the rest of the afternoon. Between seventy and eighty visitors examined our machine inside and outside, many of them walked the length of the jib, which since Oddball stopped working has rested on stacks of sleepers. In the nearby Substation, the working models in action attracted much attention, as did the DVDs of Draglines at work. We were pleased to welcome some new Members who kindly offered to volunteer their time on Open Days. Offers of help are gratefully received, as we have many jobs to do, from strimming weeds in the compound to Stewarding on Open Days. Please get in touch if you feel that you could help. You could either speak to one of the Stewards at an Open Day, or email us on contactus@walkingdragline.org and we will be in touch.

On the 29th of May, we had a return visit from Milo of OKDproductions – a Leeds based photographer/film maker who had first visited us in early 2013. He is a mostly surrealistic HDR photographer – amongst other work, who is currently working on a large end of year project for his college. He was interested in photographing Oddball because of the imposing and striking look of the machine – especially in the natural area where it is located. Some of Milo’s pictures of Oddball can be seen in the “Gallery” section of our Website.

Following the visit of a coach party of around fifty members of Peterborough Farm Machinery Preservation Society to our April Open Day, their Chairman, Willie Chatterton, has thanked us for making them so welcome. He says that they really enjoyed their time with us, which was actually the first time that they had visited a Walking Dragline as a Society group. In addition to being able to go around and inside “Oddball” they were also very impressed with the display of working models. They noticed that one of the models was the same kind as one that they already knew of, and which had worked on Iron Stone in the Corby area which is quite close to where they come from.

If you are a member of a Society that would be interested in making a group visit to Oddball, please get in touch with us via our email address which is     contactus@walkingdragline.org

We enjoyed fine, sunny weather for our first Open Day of the year, which was attended by around one hundred and eighty visitors, including a coach party of around fifty enthusiasts from Peterborough Farm Machinery Preservation Society. Apart from the obvious attraction of Oddball itself, the demonstration by Working Models  in the Substation drew an appreciative audience. DVDs of Draglines in action were running, and many photographs were also on display.

AGM 2015

On Saturday 28th March, a group of members had a maintenance session at St Aidans, doing various jobs around the machine, strimming weeds and generally tidying up. This was followed by our 2015 AGM which took place in the Substation. Ten Members were in attendance. Thanks were extended to those Members who had worked very hard to organise the laying-on of a permanent electricity supply to the site, which will make our Events easier to run, now that we no longer need to transport generators and fuel to the site every time. Plans were finalised for the first Open Day of the year, due to take place on Saturday 18th April. All Committee Members were re-elected for a further year.

Come and see the largest preserved walking dragline excavator in Western Europe.

Look all round outside and see the giant 25 cubic yard bucket.

Go inside the machine and see all the motors and winding gear.

Sit in the driver’s seat!

Walk the length of the jib!

See working models and video displays in the substation.

Our dates for 2015 are:

• Saturday 18th April
• Saturday 13th June
• Saturday 12th September
• Sunday 13th September

We are open from 2pm to 4pm on each of these days. Admission is free and there is parking on site.  For directions and map, please see our “Find Us” page.