British Ploughing Championships comes to Stafford - with PICTURES and VIDEO
It was a case of tractors at the ready as a village hosted a national ploughing competition for the first time.
Deer Park Farm in Hopton, Stafford, welcomed 60 competitors who got stuck in - sometimes literally - on Saturday for a qualifying match of the annual British Ploughing Championships.
There were multiple disciplines with the entrants being judged on things like straightness as well as neat 'ins and outs' manoeuvres.
But this was no mad morning dash with each driver given four hours to showcase their skills between 9am and 1pm on the day.
The event was organised by The Society of Ploughmen.
The overall champion on the day was Philip Allman, from Stafford, who had a slight edge on his rivals in that he used to be a farm worker at the site where the contest took place.
Organiser Richard Clarke of the Stafford district branch of the Staffordshire and Birmingham Agriculture Society, said: "Stafford has held ploughing competitions for decades but this was the first time it had hosted the national qualifiers for the competition which will take place in 2018.
"We had 60 competitors and were very, very happy with the numbers that attended.
"There was some excellent ploughing on show, the ground was great and it was a very pretty site. Overall it went very well. Everyone had a good day."
