Ploughwoman wins prize with granddad’s old tractor

A WOMAN won a first prize at the Henley ploughing match with a tractor she restored.

Tamsin Stamp, 24, was competing in a restored Nuffield DM4 that used to belong to her grandfather John, 91, who was spectating at Sunday’s event at Shiplake Farm.

She studied agricultural business management at Reading University and was given the tractor by Mr Stamp 10 years ago.

She said: “I restored it and finished it about a year ago and we are now just having fun with it and getting it muddy.”

Miss Stamp was awarded the Martin Bullock Trophy for the best-maintained tractor over 25 years.

She said: “This is the fourth match I have competed in. The first two matches were about six or seven years ago.”

Mr Stamp had used the vehicle while working at Castleman’s Farm in Knowl Hill.

Miss Stamp said: “He used it for three years and it got put on the slurry pump to feed the cows. When the farm was sold in 1984 he bought it back off them.”

Her father Melvin also competed in the match and came second in the reversible plough class. Forty-threo entrants competed at the 131st annual event with a mixture of reversible ploughs, vintage trailed ploughs and hydraulic ploughs.

The competitors were scored on criteria including uniformity, straightness and the general appearance of their furrows.

The match was opened at 9am with the traditional blessing of the plough by Rev Robert Thewsey, rector of the United Benefice of Shiplake, Dunsden and Harpsden.

The event, which is organised annually by the Henley and District Agricultural Association, also included a heavy horse ploughing display and a dog show. Alan Keene, of Applehouse Farm in Burchetts Green, competed in the vintage trailed class.

He said: “My tractor is a 1942 Fordson and the plough was made by Ransome, who made pretty much every plough in the country back then. The Fordson is called the tractor that won the war as it was used by the women’s land army in the Second World War.

“The green tractors are post-war and the orange ones are pre-war. I don’t know what mine would be as the colour has faded so much.”

Lawry Taylor and Trevor Bailey watched the match from aboard a modified picnic bench that could be driven around by an engine attached to it. Mr Taylor said: “It was made by Darren Marcham, who is a local agricultural engineer. It’s a picnic bench on top of a lawn mower engine so it can be ridden around.”

The bench had a number-plate attached to the front which read “Guinness” and the pair were drinking beer from cup holders attached to the top.

Ploughing enthusiast Jim Wolton, from Amersham, competed in the vintage trailed class with a Bristol tractor and an Allsorts plough.

He said: “It’s a Massey-Harris. I bought it when it was a bit of a wreck and restored it. It has got an Austin 10 car engine in there and a water pump.”

Mr Wolton, who is not a farmer, said he borrows a friend’s shed to store the engine.

Other entertainment included a merry-go-round ride, food stalls, tractor-trailer rides and a steam engine.

Association manager Jo Taylor said: “It was a fantastic day. The location was superb and it was well-attended. The ploughmen were very happy with the condition of the ground.

“The ploughing match was how the Henley Show actually started in 1891. It’s a traditional farming event and it educates the public.

“We are really grateful to the Doble family for their land and, of course, all our committee members and volunteers.”