HOLLYCOMBE Steam is starting the season with three special events in May – starting with this weekend’s May Day Bank Holiday.

More than just a working steam museum, it is a place where the past comes to life.

On Bank Holiday Sunday, May 6, and Monday, May 7, a Victorian Magic Lantern Show promises to entertain the whole family at Liphook’s famous family attraction situated on the Hampshire and Sussex border.

The Hollycombe Bioscope – the earliest form of travelling cinema – will be running special Magic Lantern Shows on both afternoons.

Hollycombe trustee Brian Gooding is looking forward to the weekend.

He said: ‘We’re encouraging families to take a change from the multiplex, to forget 3D and surround sound and to immerse themselves in a truly Victorian experience.

“It’s not difficult to imagine the sense of wonder the Victorians would have felt when they saw hand painted images projected for the first time.”

The Magic Lantern Shows will be accompanied by music and song, some especially written for the occasion.

Continuing in the Victorian and Edwardian theme, visitors to Hollycombe over the Bank Holiday weekend will be able to enjoy delightful walks through the grounds, which will be looking at their spring best.

Carpets of bluebells – which can also be enjoyed from Hollycombe’s Quarry Railway – and early flowering rhododendrons and azaleas will light up the woodland pathways.

The Bioscope will be open on other dates during the season, when it will show very early classic cinema reels, including film shorts made famous by Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and Walt Disney.

The Steam in Miniature Weekend on Saturday, May 19, and Sunday, May 20, will display around 35 miniature traction engines for enthusiasts.

Full-size traction engines and steam rollers will be the star attraction for the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend over May 26, 27 and 28, after an absence of a few years.

A Hollycombe spokesman told The Herald: “Come along and see visiting traction engines, steam-rollers and other steam-powered items, as well as other exhibits.

“In addition to the regular steam railways and fairground rides, this will be a great way to spend a Bank Holiday weekend.”

The third weekend in May will see members and friends of the West Surrey Model Traction Engine Club join Hollycombe with around 35 miniature traction engines, from twpo-six inch scale, all in steam.

There will be plenty to see and enjoy in addition to the normal attractions at Hollycombe.

The little engines are great for children to see and understand how they work. Photographers will love the opportunity to take pictures of the steam engines as they line up alongside the railway platform on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons for a short time.

Opening times for all three events are 11am to 5pm with train rides from noon and fairground rides operating from 12.30pm.

The attraction will also be open for three days from Wednesday, May 30 until Friday, June 1, during the Whitsun half-term school holiday and will be open on Saturday, June 2, and Sundays on June 10 and 17.

•For more information and admission prices visit www.hollycombe.co.uk