National event ‘Ploughing On’ in October

• The British National Ploughing Championships & Country Festival will be celebrating its 70th anniversary when the event will be held on 9th and 10th October 2021 at Mindrum, Northumberland

This National two-day event is ‘ploughing on’ after being forced to cancel last year due to coronavirus.  It will bring together champion ploughmen and women from all over the country to compete in fifteen different classes – including world style, several vintage classes, horticultural and horse ploughing – to find the British ploughing champions in each section.

The event is a huge outdoor affair, so social distancing should be easy on the 200-plus acre site close to the Scottish border, midway between Wooler and Kelso.  However, you don’t need to be a ploughing enthusiast to enjoy a visit to the Championships as there is something for everyone, should you be a farmer, enthusiast or just love the countryside.  Alongside the ploughing competitions, for those who enjoy our faming heritage there will be demonstrations of steam ploughing and comprehensive vintage displays of tractors and farm machinery.   For the farmers who visit, they can see new machinery demonstrations and buy anything from a spanner to a new tractor from the agricultural trade stands.  Shopping stalls and crafts will add to the day for families attending and almost everyone loves to see the horses ploughing – it’s a rare sight to see more than a dozen pairs of these magnificent beasts ploughing side by side.

The organisers, the Society of Ploughmen, are delighted to be planning to hold the event in October.  Chief Executive of the charity, Sue Frith, commented, “It’s great to get back to organising the Championships again and we’re thrilled to be invited back to Mindrum where we should have been last year.  We haven’t been in the north of England for quite a few years and D Harvey & Son have provided a great site for us to use.  The popularity of competition ploughing is on the increase and the enthusiasm for the British National Ploughing Championships is better than ever after having a year off”.

Main sponsors of the Championships are Bridgestone/Firestone and Continental Tyres and further support has been given by Tama, Cereals Event, Ivor King, Friends of Ferguson Heritage and CBS.  Ploughing entries close on 19th July and entries for trade stands and machinery demonstrations close on 31st July.   For further information visit www.ploughmen.co.uk