After a miserable summer, the ploughmen were treated to near
perfect conditions at this wonderful farm set against the backdrop of the beautiful South Downs.

As the match was started at 9am on Saturday by the traditional flying of the Union flag, the competitors had to overcome heavy fog,
struggling to see the end of their runs for the first hour.

But then the sun broke through and the fog lifted to reveal a wonderful
spectacle of 60 competitors, ploughing with a plethora of machines ranging from horses to crawlers, vintage and modern tractors, every one the pride and joy of its owner.

The aim of the competition is two-fold – to compete and win your particular class but above all to be judged as the best ploughman of all the classes and walking away with the title of Champion Ploughman of 2008.

This honour was, after much deliberation by the judges from the Loughton and District Agricultural Association, awarded to Tony Flitney from Bordon, Hampshire.

He won his class, the open vintage tractor ploughing with a mounted plough, and also won the award for best maintained vintage tractor.

The open tractor ploughing class is open to all for any type of tractor and plough and the winners from the previous two competitions have to
compete in this section also, so the competition is of a very high standard.

This year Geoff Burse from Boxgrove fought off all-comers and took the NFU Challenge Cup and the open tractor class.

This class has another award, the Wardrop Challenge Cup, given to the best ploughman from within the area of the association. It was won by Gerald Reed from Kirdford.

Local man Alexander Baxter won the association's challenge cup for ploughing with a mounted conventional plough while the open reversible class, showing off some of the more modern machinery was won by David Gasson from Haywards Heath with his two-furrow reversible.

Mr Gasson also went away with the championship prize for reversible ploughing.

The Comber Challenge Cup for reversible ploughing was won this year by a man with a bit of inside local knowledge – John Hounsome from Heyshott.

The classic class, for competitors ploughing with machinery manufactured between 1959 and 1974, was won by Mark Leadbetter from Sayers Common.

Probably the most contested class of the day was the open vintage
tractor ploughing.

With 13 entries the competition was fierce but Pete Crockford from Rogate emerged victorious at the end of the day and went home with the Borderers Challenge Cup.

Finally, the young farmers class, open to ploughmen under the age of 26, is a chance for the next generation to pit their wits against each other. Once again it was a ploughwoman, Amy Bray from Broadford Bridge, who stood out and took the Doulton Challenge cup for the second year running.

It is worth noting that third prize in the young farmer's class was won by James Feakes from Shipley at the tender age of 14 – certainly one to watch for the future.

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