Britain's Top Ploughmen Going For Gold In Warm Up To The British National Ploughing Championships
03/09/05

The weeks leading up to the British National Ploughing Championships will see Britain's top ploughmen in action throughout September at major international competitions in The Netherlands, Czech Republic, and Sweden.

First on the list are the 2005 European Vintage Ploughing Championships, being held in the Netherlands on September 3rd at Numansdorp, just south of Rotterdam. Hot on the heels of this event comes the 52nd World Ploughing Contest at Prague in the Czech Republic, on September 16th and 17th. And rounding off a hectic month are the 2005 European Reversible Championships in Sweden. These are being held at Alnarp and, like the World Contest, are spread over two days - in this case, September 24th and 25th.

The England teams are selected and managed by the Society of Ploughmen, the organisers of the British National Ploughing Championships, which will be held this years on October 8th & 9th at Soham, near Ely, Cambridgeshire.

The England Teams

European Vintage Ploughing Championships
England will be represented by the defending European Vintage Champion and current British National Vintage Trailer Ploughing Champion, John Milnes from Penistone in South Yorkshire, who will be partnered by Jimmy Chalmers. Mr Chalmers, from Coningsby in Lincolnshire, is the current holder of the British National Vintage Hydraulic Ploughing title.

52nd World Ploughing Contest
Following his spectacular win at last year's British National Ploughing Championships, Don Woodhouse is making his international debut for England in the conventional ploughing class. Mr Woodhouse, who is from Retford in Nottinghamshire, has the rare distinction of being the first British national ploughing champion to have designed and made his own match plough.

Partnering Mr Woodhouse and ploughing in the reversible class, is the reigning World Reversible Ploughing Champion Simon Witty, from East Lutton in North Yorkshire. Mr Witty will be hoping to go one better than his brother James who won the World reversible title in Canada, in 2003. And a win this year would also put Mr Witty one ahead of his father Graeme, who won the World reversible title back in 1998.

2005 European Reversible Championships
England is represented by Mark Williams, from Nequay, Cornwall, who is ploughing in the European Reversible Championships for the first time, and Peter Alderslade from East Bolden, Tyne and Wear, who is hoping to improve on his 3rd place result in the 2004 Championships.

Crowds flock to spectacular British National Ploughing Championships