Hugely successful Rail Ale at Barrow Hill Roundhouse draws visitors from as far away as Finland

Beer, bands and glorious weather pulled in thousands of people from as far away as Finland to the iconic railway heritage centre which hosted the popular three-day event.

Alexa said: "We are the UK’s last operational roundhouse and it’s alway a showstopper when the turntable starts moving – a real party piece. On one of the evenings a guy was looking into his glass and saying ‘how much have I drunk? He could see the engine moving and couldn’t quite connect with how it was moving and the amount of beer he had drunk!

"We like to do things differently at Rail Ale. We had belly dancers for the first time on Saturday afternoon. People couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

"The feedback we’ve had on the music has been amazing. Bad Manners were so funny and Buster Bloodvessel really engaged with the audience – they loved him and he loved them back. He’s such a character.

"We had Highway Child on Friday - the entertainment was great, the audience wanted more, encores were required.

"Flash – the Queen tribute probably gave us our biggest ever audience on the Saturday night, with well over 1,000 people in. When most beer festivals are winding down and there is not a lot of beer left, we still had over 150 beers going and the gin still flowing.

"It’s been a hugely successful event. It's brought people and trade to Chesterfield...the hotels were pretty full and taxis did a roaring trade. “

Alexa paid tribute to the 300-strong army of unpaid helpers including the teams behind the bars, people on the gatehouse and the bus drivers. She said: “A huge thanks to all the volunteers, without them, this festival wouldn't happen.

The Roundhouse returns to its normal opening time this weekend – 10am to 4pm. Alexa said: "By the time you come back you’d never know that we’d entertained thousands over the past three days and that there had been huge amounts of beer, gin and wine.”