Ploughing championships 'boost'

The staging by the Isle of Man of the European Vintage Ploughing Championships has been hailed a major boost for the competition, by the secretary of the European Ploughing Association, Mike Childerly.

The Championships, the largest ploughing event the Island has ever hosted, took place at Great Meadow, Castletown at the weekend, with representatives from Austria, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany and Ireland.

Mr Childerly told Manx Radio the competition was a big success (audio file attached):

The overall winner of the competition was John Milnes from England, who also had the highest score in the Vintage Trailed class. Results:

Vintage Reversible: 1, Mercer Ward (Northern Ireland), 254.6 marks; 2, Anko Broekema (Netherlands), 215.4 marks; 3, Willy Laleman (Belgium), 212.6 marks; 4, Bouldt Elmer (Belgium), 154.8 marks.

Vintage Trailed: 1, John Milnes (England), 276.5 marks; 2, Jackie Moore (Northern Ireland), 227.5; 3, Robert Owen (Republic of Ireland), 222.75; 4, George Mutch (Scotland), 219.75 marks.

Vintage Mounted: 1, Robert Douglas (Scotland), 222.75 marks; 2, Tony Bradley (Wales), 219.75; 3, Richard Ingram (England), 217.25; Ian Simms (Northern Ireland), 208.5 marks.