Town gets ready to celebrate steam engine pioneer Trevithick

Preparations are in their final stretch for an annual celebration of pioneering engineer Richard Trevithick.

The Cornish inventor made history in 1804 with his five-tonne locomotive which was the first to move on train tracks under its own steam.

He has been celebrated in Camborne, near where he grew up, for more than 40 years.

The free family event will take over the town centre on 25 April with steam engines, dancing, live music and markets.

Trevithick Day starts at 09:30 BST with a procession through Trelowarren Street, followed by an opening ceremony in the main square at 10:00.

Children's dance teams and the town band will perform before midday, with Kernow Pipes and Drums appearing in Basset Road.

Adult dancers take over in the afternoon, before the headline at 15:30 when the steam engines roll from Basset Road, through Cross Street and up Trelowarren Street.

A street market will run all day, alongside a fair in Rosewarne car park.

Trevor Brookes, chairman of Camborne Trevithick Day CIC, said: "Every year we have the stable stalwarts, entertainment and attractions and the steam engines.

"But every year, we always look to populate those stages with new young acts, people who are new to the scene."

He said the day was about lifting spirits and described the steam engines as a highlight that still stops people in their tracks.

"It is just such a fantastic sight."

Trevithick pioneered high-pressure stationary steam engines for mining and driving machinery.

He created the world's first passenger-carrying road locomotive in 1801, the Puffing Devil, then three years later succeeded in carrying 70 people and 10 tons of iron along the banks of the River Taff in Wales.

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