Ploughing Competition

On Saturday 15th September 2018 Ongar & District Ploughing Association held there centenary event at High Laver on a local farm which had been prepared for the competition.

On arrival my first impression was that it was a lot smaller than I had imagined, as we were in a relatively small field with a few tractors & plough’s. As I had been lead to believe that as it was the centenary it was hoped that there would be 100 competitors taking part.

Robert Cameron (1958) who was a competitor had arranged for his Son Barney to drive us round in a large seated trailer pulled by a large tractor. Little did I know that the main event was taking place on a 100 acre field on the other side of the road to the farmhouse & car park. So we were very glad to have the transport to look at all parts of the competition area.

We first made our way to the two steam engines from the 1920’s which were pulling a plough from side to side of the field in tandem. Next was the heavy horses which could have ploughed a field without human assistance, they really are gentle giants. We then witnessed Robert with his large Caterpillar driven powerhouse, but he was only able to achieve 3rd place in his category.

We then had the raffle draw, prior to lunch which was a excellent buffet, PLOUGHMANS OF COURSE, and awaited for the prize giving which as you can imagine took quite some time because of the different categories, there being at least 7 in order to cover all entrants.

The day was most enjoyable, as we were blessed with a beautiful sunny late summer’s day, and the whole event was completely different to anything we had experienced before. I had to marvel at the organisation that had gone into the event, as it made organising an outing for the OL’s pale into insignificance.

Report by Hon. Secretary Malcolm Trowbridge