VISITORS and exhibitors have journeyed from near and far to the Great Dorset Steam Fair.

Over 200,000 people are expected at the site near Blandford over the next four days, with steam engines, country crafts, rock bands and a fun fair among the attractions on offer.

Robin and Therese Baylie had travelled from Essex, making the Steam Fair the centrepiece of their two-week caravan tour around Dorset.

"We've been coming for years, since our children were little. We love the steam engines and the atmosphere. You smell the smoke and are transported to a by-gone age," said Mrs Baylie.

Others had travelled shorter distances to show off their skills. Terry Heard, a broom squire, lives in Spetisbury.

"I make brooms from local birch wood. It helps to clear the heathland and create a conservation area for nightjars, slow worms, and sand lizards," said Mr Heard.

The self-taught greenwoodsman has been demonstrating at the fair for 12 years.

Three-wheeled Scammell Scarab delivery vans, lovingly restored to their mid-1950s pomp, were among those on show in the fair's display of vintage commercial vehicles.

"The Scarab was a model in a range called the Mechanical Horse, because it could turn in the circle of a horse and dray," said Jeff Laws, who had travelled from West Sussex.

"The name comes from the words Scammell and Arab. Scammell were the greatest trucks in the world, and Arabs the greatest horses."

A tobacconist's shop with products from the 1930s was one of many interesting sights in the fair's Memory Lane.

Richard Wilson had brought his collection of vintage smoking paraphernalia from Boston in Lincolnshire, including his "shopkeeper" - a mannequin dressed in period garb named Mr Simmons.

The fair runs until Sunday.