Welsh venue draws 10,000 plough fans
Welsh venue draws 10,000 plough fans
MORE than 10,000 people attended the combined European Reversible and Welsh ploughing championships at Walton in the Radnorshire Valley last weekend. With entries from 16 countries, and the addition of vintage and horse ploughing classes, land on four farms was used.
Andreas Leitner from Austria drew Plot 1 and went on the take the European Reversible Championship at the first attempt. Perhaps anticipating success, the 29-year-old mixed farmer from St Veit appeared to be carrying a victors bouquet on the roof of his Fendt 304 tractors cab. Andreas, who scored 128 points, started competing in 1985. He was runner-up in his own national championships in 1997 using the same Regent Saturn KCX two-furrow plough.
John Hill, of Sheffield, who was world champion in 1992 and 1993, and the 1995 European Reversible Champion, took the reserve championship with 126 points using a Ford/New Holland drawn Lemken plough. John has been British National Champion seven times.
The skills of the much fancied 1997 World Reversible Champion Andrew Mitchell, of Angus, Scotland, narrowly failed to overcome a bad plot draw. He took third place with 125 points.
Few ploughing aficionados were surprised when Clive Nixon won the Welsh Ploughing Championship for the fourth time in eight years. The son of former three times Wales and 1964 British Champion champion John Nixon, Clive had been in top spot or reserve every year since 1994.
A farmer from Hundred House, Llandrindod Wells, he began competing at 15 and has travelled widely representing Wales at conventional ploughing. The win qualifies him to compete at the 1999 World Championship in France where he will be joined by runner up Evan Watkin, of Cefn Coch, Welshpool.
At the last World Championships Clive finished 13th using his Fiskars plough behind a Case IH tractor.