Ploughing a Straight Furrow

This is the field directly in front of our house and we were woken by the chug chug of tractors this morning.

The harvest only just gathered in and the local farmers were preparing for the ploughing competition next week. Serious stuff by all accounts! Competitions started about 200 years ago. It's done here on vintage tractors; the idea being to see who can plough the straightest furrow, with judges deducting points for depth infringements and tyre marks.

I spied Brian our neighbour from the upstairs window, a stalwart of the Vintage Tractor Club, getting a bit of practise in trundling up and down the length of the field in the sunshine. The furrows not only have to be as straight as possible but turned to a good angle and sealed over so that none of the rubbish is visible. You need a good eye and a lot of concentration! 'You are only as good as your preparation,' apparently! Accuracy is the key! I hope I didn't put him off when I rocked up with my camera :))