The very successful Moreton Agricultural Show teamed up for the first time, last weekend, with the North Cotswold Tractor Club for the Bluebell Tractor run in aid of Cancer Research and the Moreton Show.
The chosen charity was due to the fact that many of the Tractor Club had been affected by cancer including organiser and farmer Roy Limbrick, from Sherbourne, who lost his wife Sybil to cancer in 2015.
The starting point was Down’s Farm in Batsford where over 30 tractors turned up, on a bright and warm sunny morning, to be judged for best tractor, by the Moreton Show Chair Katherine Loyd. This was won by Mickleton farmer John Mitchell with his 1950s McCormack Farmall tractor.
The route was a 50-mile road trip around the North Cotswolds taking in Batsford, Sezincote Estate, Moreton-in-Marsh, Todenham, Great Wolford, Barton-on-the-heath, Long Compton, Oddington, and the Slaughters among others.
The crowds of locals were out in force to watch the convoy proceed through the route and a leisurely pace of the slowest tractor, with working examples from Ford, John Deere, Fordson, and Massey Ferguson.
The hot weather was great for the crowd interest but hot for the drivers who were happy to reach the lunch stop at Oddington for a break, sandwich, and beer for some at the Camra award-winning Horse and Groom pub.
After lunch, the convoy wended it way around villages near to Stow-on-the-Wold including the very picturesque Lower Slaughter, which was packed with people enjoying the sights and hot weather.
Finally, the convoy returned back to the Down’s Farm in Batsford with an estimated £1000 raised for Cancer Research and the Moreton Show.
The Moreton Show 2016 takes place on Saturday 3rd September 2016 at the Batsford Estate.
