Slow the pace down with some vintage farming and country crafts

When: 12th & 13th October 2013

Where: Llanwarne, Herefordshire

£: Adults £10 per day, children (over 11 years old) £5 per day and children under 11 years old go free.  Parking is free.  Dogs are allowed but must be kept on a lead at all times.

What is it?

Ploughing enthusiasts throughout Great Britain will be converging on the Herefordshire village of Llanwarne for the British National Ploughing Championships & Country Festival on 12th and 13th October.

Over two hundred acres of local farmland, kindly loaned by Mrs I E Williams and family, will be taken over by 250 ploughmen – and two ploughwomen – who will be showing their skills in the art of ploughing.

The popularity of the national championships is increasing year on year and this is the first time the event has been held in Herefordshire since the 1980s.

The two-day event will feature various styles of ploughing; modern tractors pulling conventional and reversible ploughs, five classes with vintage tractors pulling trailing, hydraulic and classic ploughs, and horse-drawn ploughs. Visitors can also see giant steam ploughing engines dating from the latter part of the 19th century and displays of vintage tractors and machinery.

Heavy horses are always one of the most popular attractions with spectators, who will have chance to watch thirteen pairs of horses at work.  These magnificently turned out gentle giants evoke by-gone days when farming was an altogether a slower way of life, when what took a man and a pair of horses to plough in a day takes less than an hour to do now.  The modern machinery will be there too.  So for children especially, it is a unique opportunity to see how farming has changed over the last 200 years.

A new theme for this year is “from potato to crisp”.  Local school children were invited on to the farm earlier in the year to plant potatoes by hand, exactly the way they would have been before mechanisation.  At the championships, there will be equipment and displays of potato working machinery from throughout the ages and, weather permitting, the potatoes will be harvested and made into crisps on the site.

The most up-to-date machinery will be shown on static stands and demonstrated by both manufacturers and local dealers.  So there is plenty to do for the farmer and his family and with all the country crafts, tractor and trailer rides, and craft stalls, the championships promise to be a lot more than just a ploughing match.

The championships will take place on land at Llanwarne, between Hereford and Ross-on-Wye.  It will be well signposted from major roads in the area.

More info: www.ploughmen.co.uk