Traction engines, once a common sight, made an unusual convoy around the Manningtree area.
The colourful, if somewhat smoky cavalcade, brightened a gloomy, wet day and attracted sightseers along the 16-mile route.
Nine vehicles took part, the owners all being members of The East Anglian Traction Engine Society, which holds occasional rallies in the area.
The engines were anything up to 90 years old. In their heyday, they had been used for agricultural work and road building, with two of them originally used at fun fairs.
The members came from Lawford, Ardleigh and Colchester, the furthest travelling from Tilbury and Sudbury.
Travelling between five and six miles per hour, the procession set off from Hollylodge Farm in Bromley Road, Lawford, and made its way via Cox's Hill to Manningtree, then through Mistley and Bradfield to Wix and back, stopping off at the Strangers Home public house in Bradfield for a lunch break.
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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