This year Newbury & District Agricultural Society’s Annual Ploughing Match will take place on Saturday 15th October at Ilsley Barn Farm, Compton starting at 9am and hosted by the Institute of Animal Health.

This is a popular event in the Society calendar and is regularly contested by around 75 local ploughing champions. Visitors can watch classes for conventional, reversible and horse-drawn ploughs, as well as classes for vintage tractors and ploughs and vintage horticultural machinery. The Champion of the day qualifies to go forward to the National Ploughing Championships.

Visitors will be able to track the development of ploughing over centuries, as they will see teams of magnificent shire horses ploughing in the old fashioned way, alongside them will be steam ploughing and vintage tractors going through to the top of the range ploughing units that are available today. Leading machinery firms will be demonstrating their latest, most up-to-date, multi-furrow units which can turn over in under an hour what it would have taken a horse a day to do.

Alongside the ploughing competitions, there are a number of other attractions for all the family to enjoy. The Society runs highly competitive chutney and cake making competitions and all food exhibits will be auctioned off at the end of day for charity. There’s a refreshment stall and a bar and The Society Education Officer will be running activities for young visitors including paper making, guess the vintage farm implements and name the grain.

There’s also entries in the popular scarecrow competition to view. There will be a prize for the Nursery or Primary school who have created the best scarecrow.

Entrance is free of charge to children under 16 and £5 for adults. For further information visit the Society’s website at www.newburyshowground.co.uk