Thinking back, my first visit to Thursford would have been in 1973, in those days the museum was in a Nissen hut type of building that was situated 'across the road' going by the location of the phone box, back then the museum had no phone and you could sometimes see George Cushing using the phonebox just outside the gateway, at this time there were about 15-20 engines, predominately Aveling Rollers to the left hand side of the museum, none of which were sheeted. On one occasion the gate opposite was open and it was possible to see either 'Alexandra' or 'unity' in the yard, this was the only time that I have seen a derelict Showmans engine. When the present museum was built in the early 'eighties there was a great investment in tarpaulin and the derelict engines were sheeted.
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