More than 250 champion ploughmen and women from throughout Great Britain will soon be converging on a small village in Warwickshire to show their skills at this year’s British National Ploughing Championships & Country Festival which takes place on October 13th and 14th.
Over 250 acres of farmland next to the village of Austrey, near Atherstone has been loaned by the hosts, William Corbett Farms and John Upperdine and the Championships, traditionally held in a different part of the country each year, will also attract visitors from the north of Scotland to the southern corners of England.
Organisers of the event, the Society of Ploughmen, say the interest in and popularity of ploughing matches is definitely growing each year for both spectators and competitors alike. The British Championships is the finale of local ploughing matches to find the Champions of Great Britain in various categories from ‘world style’ reversible ploughs to a multitude of vintage ploughing classes and probably the biggest crowd puller of all, heavy horses.
However, the event is not just about the ploughing and organisers say you don’t have to have to be an enthusiast to be able to visit the Championships and have an enjoyable day out. Alongside the competitions, there will be an array of trade stands and machinery demonstrations with local and national companies showing the latest equipment. Everything from tractors, trailers and machinery; drainage and irrigation; fuel, tyres, agronomy and precision farming; tractor spares and tools. Then there are the crafts and stalls with everything from garden furniture, basketware, walking sticks, signs, country clothing and hats.
The Great Steam Challenge will also be held over the two days. The Challenge doesn’t take place every year and this is only the 8th Challenge to be held in the past 24 years, so with 25 giant engines taking part, it will be a fantastic sight to see. They will take up around 60 acres of the site and there will be some rare single cylinder engines taking part which date back to the 1860s, not often seen working together.
With static displays of vintage tractors and machinery, the steam, the tractors and horses working in the fields and the most up-to-date tractors and machinery of today, organisers say the visitors will have a unique opportunity not only to see and appreciate the changes in farming over 200 years or so, but to see most of it working. For this reason, children under 11 are given free admission to the Championships as the organisers want them to see and learn about our farming heritage.
The event takes place about 3 miles from the junction of the M42/A42, very close to Twycross Zoo.
