Third title for ploughing champ
18 September 2000
Third title for ploughing champ
BRITAIN almost swept the board of titles at the World Ploughing Contest, held at Lincolnshire showground over the weekend (16-17 September).
John Hill celebrated his 10th appearance in the event by winning the competition.
Mr Hill, who farms near Sheffield, won the reversible category with 359.5 points at the 47th World Ploughing 2000 Contest.
This is the third time Mr Hill has won. He first entered the competition when it was last held in Britain 16 years ago.
Runner-up Peter Ulrich from Switzerland notched 335.5 points, and third place went to William Morrison from Banff, Scotland, who scored 330.25 points.
In the conventional ploughing category, Danish finalist Henry Thegen won by just 0.75 points ahead of Andrew Morrison (Williams brother) who collected 337 points.
In third and fourth place, the Northern Ireland team enjoyed a double success, with David Gill and David Wright achieving 335.5 and 332 points respectively.
John Hill was awarded the Golden Furrows Challenge Trophy donated by Kverneland, and Henry Thegen was presented with the Golden Plough trophy for winning the conventional class.
Despite a modest visitor attendance, a result of the fuel crisis, World Ploughing 2000 saw nearly 60 contestants from 30 nations compete.
During the previous two days, the Lincolnshire showground hosted the 50th British National Ploughing Championships.
Here, visitors saw James Witty and Adrian Brewer win the reversible and conventional categories respectively.
Farming near Malton, Yorkshire, Mr Witty scored 484 points to shake off tough competition from runner-up John Hill to clinch the British National Reversible Ploughing title by nine points.
In the conventional ploughing category, Mr Brewer, who farms near St Issey, Cornwall, achieved 388 points.
He finished head and shoulders above Welshman Nigel Vickers (365 points) to become a British National Ploughing Champion for the fourth time.
Both winners will go on to compete in the 48th World Ploughing Contest in Denmark next year.
By way of a change, the 50th British National Ploughing Championship also hosted a new contest, the Manufacturers Challenge.
This saw seven makers compete with their own ploughs to produce the best furrows.
The furrows were judged on depth, uniformity, level of finish, and neatness of the ins and outs.
Gregoire Besson won by just two points ahead of Kuhn, Vogel and Noot, Dowdeswell, Lemken, Kverneland and Kongskilde, all in joint second place.