18/09/07
Yorkshireman Simon Witty has won the reversible title at the 2007
World Ploughing Contest, and is the first ploughman ever to have
won the world title four times in a row.
This was only Simon’s fourth appearance in the England Team
at the World Ploughing Contest, which took place this year at the
University of Agriculture, Kaunas, Lithuania, on September 14th
and 15th. He has won the title each time.
Thirty year old Simon - an arable farmer and agricultural engineer
from East Lutton, near Malton, North Yorkshire - scored a total
of 392 points over the two days, comfortably beating second-placed
Andrew Mitchell Snr by a by a 34-point margin. Northern Ireland’s
David Wright was third with 344 points.
The UK featured no less than six times in the top four places
in both the Reversible and Conventional Contests this year. The
conventional title was won by Northern Ireland’s David Gill
with 369.5 points, beating last year’s world champion, Andrew
Mitchell Jnr from Scotland, into second place with 351 points.
Christian Fischereder from Austria was third with 338.5 points
and just 3 points behind in fourth place was England’s Adrian
Brewer.
As always the competition was fierce with 58 ploughmen representing
29 countries, including three past world champions. The event was
very well organised and the hospitality given by the Lithuanian
Ploughing Association was second to none. However, ploughing conditions
were difficult for the competitors with some plots heavy in places
and lighter spots in others, and some plots were not as level as
ploughmen could have hoped for.
Speaking immediately after the Contest, Ken Chappell, who represents
England on the Board of the World Ploughing Organization, the organisers
of the Contest, said: “This is a remarkable result for Simon
Witty. To compete in the World Ploughing Contest four times and
to take the title each time is incredible. Three times in a row
was the previous record, made by Northern Ireland’s Hugh
Barr in the 1950s. ”
Ken Chappell is also Executive Director of the Society of Ploughmen
and is responsible for organising the British National Ploughing
Championships each year and for the selection and management of
the England World Ploughing Team. The England team are sponsored
by National Grid, Goodyear and Firestone.
Adrian Brewer will now be preparing to defend his British National
title at next month’s British National Ploughing Championships.
These are being held at Crockey Hill, near York on October 13th
and 14th . Simon Witty has decided to take a well earned rest from
ploughing matches for the rest of the year.
British National Ploughing Championships Return to North Yorkshire
56th British National Ploughing Championships
Great Day Out Along The Furrows
|