TWO steam buffs tied the knot in Tavistock with the help of a steam engine and an arch of fire irons.
Alex Masters and his bride Kayleigh had a traditional ceremony at St Eustachius’ Church in Tavistock with a difference - a steam engine was the special guest outside the church to mark their joint fascination with steam.
Alex is chairman of the Robey Trust which restores steam engines of all types in Tavistock, while Kayleigh is an equal fan. To mark this link the pair left the church under an arch of coal fire irons used to keep the engine coal fires alive for static and moving steam engines of all types.
After walking through the arch of shovels and rakes formed by fellow steam fans the happy couple were met outside the church by the highly polished steam engine -t he Robey 3-point Roller built in 1913. The archway creation was introduced when the Robey Trust secretary married - “twice makes it a tradition”, said Alex.
Alex said: “As I'm the chairman of the trust, the board members were invited to the full day and many members to the reception. At the reception we celebrated the addition of the six-ton Tandem RollerBullet (built 1924) to the collection. She’s been with us since 2019 as a private member's engine but he's decided we should own her, so that was her first official engagement as a Trust engine.”
He said although he met Kayleigh in 2021, they had been ‘within inches of meeting for years’. He joined the Robey Trust in 2014 helping out and organising the annual Tavistock Steam Fair since 2015. During that time, Kayleigh was in the Air Training Corps (ATC) who Robey employed as marshals at the event.
“We watched videos of the steam fairs and in 2016 where I'm stood with ‘Stumbles’ - an old steam engine we’re restoring which was found in the Meadows park - Im there talking to punters whilst she's unloading a trailer of people from an old Field Marshall Tractor maybe 30ft away! In fact, she recognised Stumbles in my online profile pictures - but not me.”
Alex said the pair bonded on steam engines: “Our first long trip together was back from RAF Harrowbeer forties event in the pouring rain on a steam engine with no roof. Then there was a midnight ride ack from Bere Alston’s Victorian Evening and coming back from Morwellham Quay’s Tides Out Festival on a steam roller very early in the morning.”
Kayleigh's first experience steering Bullet (another Robey Trust restoration) when Alex drove it for one of the Tavistock’s food festivals in 2021 with his brother who invited him for a drink, so Alex asked her if she wouldn't mind steering it back instead.
He said: “We've also spent a lot of time together on a large engine, so it was nice to have the two engines we've crewed the most together attend our wedding.”
The couple are planning a honeymoon two-week lap of Great Britain - possibly avoiding steam locations.
