The Rural Life Living Museum in Surrey has cancelled the steam rally it had planned to host on Saturday, 22 and Sunday, 23 August.

The Museum says that it gave “careful consideration” in reaching the “difficult decision” to cancel the event, but felt compelled to do so because of the exceptionally high risk of fire during the very dry summer that the UK is experiencing.

The Museum will contact visitors who have already bought their tickets soon.

There have been several incidents of fire disrupting railway services this summer, including a lineside fire in Dorset and a fire near Bewdley, which prompted the Severn Valley Railway to suspend its steam services and replace them with diesel four days ago.

The Rural Life Living Museum is located in Tilford, near the Surrey town of Farnham, and serves as an open-air museum of country life.

The Museum includes the Old Kiln Light Railway, a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway. The Old Kiln Light Railway has a collection of historic locomotives and rolling stock, which includes two steam locos.

It operates during most weekends in the summer and occasionally on midweek days during school holidays.

The Railway was founded in the early 1970s as the Wey Valley Light Railway. At first, it was located around a disused pumping station in Farnham, but in 1982, developers bought the land that it operated on, so the railway track and equipment were relocated to the Old Kiln Museum, which is now known as the Rural Life Living Museum.

Since its move, the line has been extended to run around the museum’s perimeter. A short stretch of its track serves the museum’s heritage timber yard demonstration area.

As well as the railway, the museum features more than thirty historic buildings, 40,000 rural artefacts, agricultural machinery, a traditional blacksmith’s forge and the Market Garden.

We understand this news will be disappointing, and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this cancellation may cause. We greatly appreciate your understanding and continued support.

The Rural Life Living Museum