Sticky conditions made ploughing tough going

A TOTAL of 32 people competed at the 133rd annual Henley and District Agricultural Association’s ploughing match.

Hundreds of people turned out to watch the event held at Red Lion Farm in Britwell Salome on Sunday.

The day began with the traditional blessing of the plough by Rev Angela Paterson.

The participants used both modern and vintage tractors as they competed in categories including reversible ploughs, vintage trailed and vintage amateur.

They had between 20 minutes and four hours to finish, depending on the category.

Points were awarded for the firmness, uniformity and general appearance of the furrows and deducted for mistakes such as finishing the wrong way or going over their time limit.

The event also featured a heavy horse ploughing display, a fun dog show, food stalls and tractor trailer rides.

Richard Birtles, from Watlington who works in agriculture, brought his 1934 Caterpillar diesel 35 crawler and took part in the vintage trailed class.

He said: “I have owned it for about 20 years and it has got a Ransome four furrow trail plough. The conditions are not too bad actually, it’s certainly not wet so it’s quite nice.

“I am a beginner and I have never done a competition before, alhough I have had the plough for a long time.

“I do quite enjoy it and I ploughed the field near here last year. I‘m just not so keen on the competing, although this is ideal for me because I don’t live very far away. It’s almost as though the competition came to me, so it’s perfect.”

Rodger Hannington, from Burghfield, brought his Massey Ferguson 35X tractor with his Ransome two furrow plough. He competed in the vintage tractor hydraulic class. He said: “I am enjoying it but the ground is too sticky to plough well. I usually come to the Henley match but I am not pleased with my furrows this year so I won’t be placed. Last year I came third.

“I have to stop and take the mud off the plough which I thought by now would be clean but it’s not. I’m doing it more than anybody else, but I think everyone is having the same problem.”

Paul Brooks-Nolan and his partner Sara, from Northamptonshire, brought two heavy horses, Spartacus, a gelding who is 19, and Titan, a stallion who is 15.

He said: “It was very difficult for us as I didn’t bring the right plough for the conditions. I brought a plough I wanted to test out before I used it at a national competition. I should have brought a Ransome.

“With horse ploughing there are so many different types of ploughs depending on the ground type. It was great to be able to demonstrate it and it is an opportunity for the public to see something a bit unusual.

“Riding people don’t realise that horses can do more than just be ridden and can do heavy work like pulling the plough. From my point of view, it was an opportunity for people to see the horses ploughing something most people only really see in pictures.

“With horse ploughing you have to train a horse to plough, you cannot just put a harness on and go, you need to teach it to pull first. It would take a couple of years to train a horse to plough. It’s a long process.

“But horse ploughing is a way of life. We go around the country to different matches. There are not enough people horse ploughing and that is why the breeds are becoming rarer.

“With horse ploughing you can’t just go on holiday and leave the horses. I have to feed them twice a day, trim their hoofs, I haven’t been on holiday in 21 years. Once the horse can plough you need to train them to deal with people, you can’t just take them to an event. Coming to events like these is great.

“The plough has origins going back to the 1750s and was made by Troth and Hilson right up to the Fifties. These ploughs were made in the village of Langley not far from Stratford-upon-Avon in a farm workshop.”

The results of the Henley and District Agricultural Association’s ploughing match were as follows:

Open class for conventional ploughs (Charlie Belcher Perpetual Cup) — 1 Harry Lawrence, 2 Dan Wood, 3 Philip Butler

Reversible ploughs not more than five furrows (Michael Colston Perpetual Cup) — 1 Terry Sayer, 2 Charles Belcher, 3 Charlie Belcher

Work done by a vintage tractor —– hydraulic (George Druce Perpetual Challenge Cup) — 1 Jordan Greenaway, 2 Peter Eldred, 3 Brian Spittles

Work done by a vintage tractor trailed (David Sarney Perpetual Challenge Cup) — 1 M Burrows, 2 Graham Clifton, 3 Jim Wolton

Work done by a vintage tractor — amateur status (Arthur Aldridge Cup) — 1 Laura Mearns, 2 Roland Carson

Best work by a Ferguson tractor (Christopher George Memorial Cup) — Harry Lawrence

Best maintained tractor over 25 years (Martin Bullock Trophy) — M Burrows

Best work by a young ploughman 17-20 on the day of the match (Ron Vines Cup) — Jack Marcham

Best work by a young farmers club member — Jordan Greenaway

Best opening (Drewitt memorial cup) — Brian Spittles

Best finish (Michael Hunt Cup) — Graham Clifton

Best work by ploughman on the day — M Burrows

There were no entries open class for match ploughs (the Greenmore Trophy and the Paddy Horler Plate for best work by an area member), and no entries in the Old Grey Fergie class.