Ploughing The Farmers' Country Showdown

Across the country, thousands of farming families work tirelessly

-around the clock.

-Bring them up, Isabel.

Well done.

-Here they come!

-Shake it, baby, shake it!

But there's one day each year...

Go on, girl. Up you go.

..where they get to leave the daily routine behind.

Woohoo!

These are show days...

Welcome to the Bedfordshire County show.

-..when they come together as a community...

-Salute!

..to showcase the fruits of their labour...

Had a quick look at the competition. I'm in with a chance!

..and try to win prizes for their breed champions...

Well done. Wayhey!

It's show business, folks!

-..and award-winning produce.

-I got first!

-You can have the last two jars!

-There will be highs...

..and lows...

No, no, no!

..for the dedicated farmers who give everything to walk away a champion.

No way!

Farm work is relentless,

and every day presents new challenges.

Despite this, when some farmers manage to get a few hours off...

Steady, take your time.

..they don't put their feet up and relax.

Instead, they indulge in a bygone tradition that puts them

-back on the land.

-Walk on.

Competitive horse ploughing.

90% of ploughing is down to them.

If they do as you tell them,

you're well over halfway there, aren't you?

-Yeah.

-Good girl.

Farmers Paul and Heather Walsh

and smallholders John McDermott and Martin Kerswell

are getting ready to compete for the first time

at the South Bucks ploughing match.

You like that, don't you, eh? You like that?

A win here would give them the chance to show their hard work

-to the world...

-Yeah, I got a thumbs-up, so that's all right.

..and celebrate a heritage skill.

We've got a bit of a straight line at last. There's hope yet!

Good Lord.

Surrounded by leafy woodlands, the village of Northill

in Bedfordshire is home to Paul and Heather Walsh.

-Right, shall we put the hay nets up?

-Yes, have you got the hay nets?

-Yes.

-Bit more in that one?

-Top that one up, yeah.

Heather was brought up on this 400-year-old farm,

where her family grew wheat and barley.

I'm the fourth generation into the farm.

My great-grandfather set it up, Samuel Vincent.

And then my grandfather lived here and I used to come here as a child.

I used to come sort of for weekends

and have tea with my grandparents here.

So we're very fortunate to be able to be here, really.

For Paul, being a farmer was not originally on the cards.

When I left school, I didn't know what I wanted to do.

A job came up in a jeweller's. And I remember going to the interview

and I was actually petrified and,

anyway, the manager said, "You've got the job."

And I was really surprised I'd got the job.

With the job came a special encounter.

At Christmas-time, we used to take on extra staff because

that was our busiest time, at Christmas.

And Heather was a student at that time, as a trainee teacher,

and she got the job and came and worked at the shop.

She invited me to her 21st birthday party.

So I took a mate cos I thought, well, you know,

got a good meal and free booze and everything else.

So I went along. But that evening, Heather and I got, well,

we got together, really, didn't we?

-We did indeed, yes.

-And within six months, we were engaged.

Up you get. Put your feet up there.

It wasn't long before Heather's dad

decided that Paul should come and try life down on the farm.

We'd wanted to have a family and we thought,

there's no better place to bring up children.

I mean, I loved my childhood in the countryside, yes.

Quite a change coming down here because the first six months,

I was picking sprouts. And I thought, if I can stick this

for six months, I can stick anything, you know!

I was absolutely shattered!

Being a jeweller, I was really a weakling.

I had a job to have done this then.

I have a job to do it now, to be honest!

I have stuck at it and then we had children.

Oops!

And here we are today, really.

Yes. So that's how we got to where we are now.

Come on, then. Out you come.

Paul has never looked back.

I think that's the nice thing, I've seen both sides.

I've seen life outside farming.

Got two views on life, really.

The jewellery trade was good, but you only got up

in the jewellery trade if you had a good week,

you sold a lot, you know. That was your reward, really, by sales.

But here it's your efforts in farming, really.

Paul and Heather mostly work their 150 acres alone.

-Let me cut that, make it easier for you.

-All right, do that, then.

I couldn't do it without Heather.

She obviously couldn't do it without me.

We wouldn't be on the farm if it wasn't for you.

-That's right, yeah.

-I like the way of life.

Unless you got a new bloke! You don't know.

I beg your pardon?

Their 33-year-old son Philip had hoped to join them.

I went into the farm for a couple of years,

and after a couple of years

my yearly wage on the farm made it...

How shall I say it, put the farm in financial difficulty for that year.

So he said, you've got to really go back and go on your trade,

go bricklaying. So I had to leave the farm.

I'm just a bit gutted that I never got to go into the farm.

Just the way farming is.

What you put in to what you get out is nothing.

To be honest, I couldn't afford to employ anybody full-time,

it's as simple as that. Come on.

Despite the hard work, when Paul DOES get some time out,

he has a hobby that puts him back in the field.

Horse ploughing.

I enjoy being with the horses and ploughing with them.

Steady.

When you get a nice bit of land...

..and the horses are going well,

-It's easy.

-You can't describe it, it is just poetry in motion,

it really is. Steady. Take your time.

That's what I enjoy.

Take your time. Walk.

Walk.

Hard to imagine now, but it wasn't always like this.

I couldn't stand horses initially.

I like all animals, but I wouldn't say I was affectionate towards them.

I just thought they were a dumb animal, really.

-Oooh!

-But they are very, very knowing.

No, well, I did.

In those days, it shows you how naive I was.

25 years ago, everything changed

because of a very special shire horse.

A friend of mine had a shire horse and he came to the barn dance

-and he wanted to sell it.

-You fell in love with her,

and said he wanted to buy her!

We never seem to plan, things just seem to come our way.

-And April came our way, our first shire horse.

-Mm.

Paul wanted to keep his purchase a surprise.

It was Sunday morning and the children were out in the garden

playing and they said, "Dad, Dad, there's a lorry turned in our drive!"

I said, "Yeah, I've got some more sheep."

Anyway, this lorry came in the yard and they stood there looking,

waiting for the sheep to come off.

And instead, there stood this great big shire horse.

Yeah, and they were just over the moon.

Oh, they couldn't believe it. They couldn't believe it.

-They were just jumping up and down, weren't they?

-Bethany, you can see she's beaming from ear to ear.

-A horse!

-Her own horse.

-Yeah.

-Happy memories, eh?

-Yeah, yeah.

I never dreamt when I left school that I'd end up on a farm and end up

owning shire horses and ploughing with them.

-Just goes to show where your future can, you know, change and move to, really.

-Yeah.

-That's a nice wagon.

-Yeah, it was.

-Mmm.

120 miles away, in the south of England, is the New Forest.

It's here in the village of Breamore that John McDermott and his family

have their smallholding.

Morning, girls and boys.

Are you still eating?

-She's always eating!

-Yeah!

They're always eating.

I was born on this farm.

My father worked here after he came over from Ireland in the '40s.

He worked on this farm for...I think it was 52 years.

When I was a boy, there were ten people worked on this farm,

there was ten cottages here.

Now there's none, because it's share farmed with the farmer next door.

So we were lucky enough to buy the cottage up here when we got married,

and been here since.

John wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps.

I wanted to work on the farm but Mum wouldn't let me.

Hello, Rain, you're a bit grubby.

She said no, it's a bit of a dead-end job.

Managed to lie down in the muck!

So I was a carpenter for years when I left school.

And then was made redundant one winter

because it was a bad winter and their work went down.

And since then, really, I've been driving a lorry.

Over two decades, John has built up a successful business transporting

timber from the woods to the merchants.

When his son-in-law Martin came along,

he happily took him into the business.

Got married to Claire and moved up here and...slowly taken on

the timber business, which I'm very honoured to be able to do.

-Are these two clean?

-Of course they are!

-They always look clean, because they're black!

-Yeah.

So hopefully that'll be what I do for quite a while.

-Hopefully.

-Hopefully the rest of my life, probably!

All he had to really do was pick up using the crane and the different

types of timber. But he's getting there.

Yeah, I'm getting there slowly.

-Not too many mess-ups, have we?

-No, not yet.

Renting ten acres of farmland gives John plenty of space

to keep his nine heavy horses.

We'll just go and check and make sure the rest of them are OK.

A passion he shares with his son-in-law.

On a nice morning like this, we take a pair of horses

and exercise them and just for a pleasure drive, really.

There's two of them, anyway.

-No, there's three there.

-Oh, yeah!

Yeah, one's hiding.

There is a lot of work into the horses.

I wouldn't like to try and account for all the time we put

into the horses because it would probably be quite scary.

Blimey, Vitamin, you made a mess in here!

Sometimes when it's a cold, wet, horrible morning

and you've got to come over and do the mucking out and things,

you think, well, why have I got these horses?!

We've had our own horses now for probably...15 years, I suppose.

And it's nice that Claire and Martin are interested,

so they can carry on, hopefully.

Come on, girls.

Hello, girls.

John and Martin have an emotional connection with their horses.

Good girls. They usually come up to the gate when you come out.

-They look all right.

-Yes.

Plenty of grass.

Most heavy horses are bred to work, so they do like to work.

But now they're going to stand down there and...

don't know what the heck's going on!

I think we work together quite well.

-Yeah.

-Don't often disagree.

As I say, we work to keep the horses.

-Yeah.

-Training and keeping heavy horses for ploughing competitions

is an expensive hobby.

It's just as well the rest of the family is on board with it.

It's not a cheap occupation.

So if the whole family are doing it, well,

you're all spending money in the same direction, aren't you?

Which otherwise, you know, I suppose that could cause friction.

Come on. Chook-chook-chooks.

You're being very antisocial! It's definitely a whole family thing.

If we didn't all go, then some of you get left behind

and then you don't see each other and it all gets a bit...

..yeah, a bit fraught.

Standing in a field in all weathers watching their husbands plough

might not be everyone's idea of a good time,

but Rowena and Claire seem committed.

We tolerate ploughing, don't we?

You couldn't do it on your own.

Well, not without having to pay grooms.

-I mean, we're unpaid grooms, aren't we, really?

-Yes.

We go and be good people and support them in their ploughing!

-Sort of.

-Sort of!

120 miles north, in Bedfordshire...

-Hi, Cyril.

-..Heather is checking in with some clients.

-How did it go on Saturday?

-Yeah, a busy day.

But, yes, it was good.

To make ends meet, Paul and Heather have set up

a livery yard with 20 stables that other horse owners can hire.

If we didn't have the liveries,

I don't know whether we'd still be here, to be honest,

because farming itself, the inputs to the crop are so,

you know, expensive and you're lucky, you know, to break even,

make a profit. It's not a huge acreage, so it is very difficult.

So we're very fortunate to have the liveries because that really has

helped us no end. So I hope we look after you.

I've yet to know a horse come here that isn't relaxed about being here.

It generally stems from whoever runs or owns the place.

Paul and Heather's passion for horses also provides

additional income in other ways.

Let's get these sheets out. We do two or three weddings a year.

We don't advertise, we don't do it as a business,

but it helps pay for the horses.

This is what the bride sits on when we go along to the church.

This is the last wedding we did on Saturday,

so this wagon can be put away now in the barn.

Easier said than done.

Paul and Heather seem to be running out of space.

Oh, we've just got that one, the blue one.

Paul's not even sure how many wagons he has.

Come on. I'm going to let you count them.

One, two, three, four, five.

How many have we got up there?

Six, seven, eight, nine.

Nine, yeah, nine.

-Hmm, nine!

-Yeah.

You say you've got that number, but you've actually got another one

because you're committed to another one, aren't you?

-Yeah, I haven't picked it up yet.

-No, this is the great problem.

When he goes to a sale, I've always fear and trepidation what he's going

to come back with. Oh, my goodness,

I'm beginning to wonder where we're going to put them all, really!

He seems to be accumulating them!

We're going into double figures, which is a little worrying.

Yeah.

But Heather didn't mind having the wagons

when a particular bride requested one.

We did our daughter's wedding,

which was tricky because I'd got to give her away but also,

I wanted to do the wedding. I thought, I've done

everybody else's weddings, I want to do my own daughter's wedding.

Yeah, it was nice, wasn't it?

Just nice to think you've done your daughter's wedding.

Yeah.

Wagons aren't the only thing Paul collects.

There are his precious ploughs.

These are my ploughs. Can't resist a plough either, really.

-No.

-In fact, seven of them.

The thing is with these, you don't come across them very often.

You're only going to get a chance of buying them once, probably.

With the ploughing competition in South Bucks only a day away,

Paul needs to start thinking about his tactics.

For Wednesday, the ploughing match,

I shall use this YL and see how they get on with that.

So that'll be my excuse if we do badly, really,

-that I haven't used it before.

-Hmm.

-Yeah.

Come on.

Good boys.

I wouldn't say I am a good ploughman...

Good boy, come on. I don't go out to win,

that is probably a fault of mine.

I never have gone out to win.

-There's a good boy.

-Good boy.

Whatever I have done, I have never pushed myself to win,

I just do things because I enjoy doing it.

Right, come on, let's go and give you a groom.

Good boy. Come on. Here.

-Come on.

-First things first, the team needs to be clean.

We groom together, bring them up, give them a groom every so often.

Good boy, Monty. Good boy.

When we are doing an event,

Paul usually baths them while I am finishing off the tack.

There is a lot of work involved.

As long as you treat them right, and you get their confidence,

they become your mates. And that is how you have got to treat them.

I talk to them all the time.

I talk to them like an old dog, and they are listening.

Grooming builds their all-important bond.

Now, when I first had him, you couldn't do this.

If you went like that, down his side, he would jump, he'd flinch,

so he has obviously been ill-treated, but...

He trusts... well, I hope he trusts us now. You can't make a horse do anything.

If you don't, you know, like they say, if you take a horse to water,

you can't make it drink, and it is true.

It is very rewarding, really, when they do, and they respond to you.

It's a job to describe it, really.

There is a special tool to finish up the grooming.

Well, we have seen it done at shows.

You know, people who go to shows

have a little generator in their lorry.

They all carry a hoover and I thought, "Oh, that's a good idea."

You like that, don't you? Eh? You like that?

If a hoover is not enough, you can always count on a bit of bling.

I usually take responsibility for the brasses.

Ploughmen always used to like to dress the horses up,

showed pride in their animals,

and they obviously liked to make sure

they were clean when they went out.

Presenting the horses well and getting the brasses looking nice

and clean is very important from the actual aesthetic point of view,

but also, as you are cleaning tack,

you are obviously going to take apart the bridle and some

of the breeching and you are sort of doing an inspection of the safety

of the harness at the same time,

so if anything is looking worn, you should find that out.

All spruced up, it's time to fit the harnesses,

which sounds much easier than it is.

Hang on a minute. Don't put it on his back yet until I get this on.

OK, now you can do it. Thank you.

Since beginner Logie and veteran Monty are very different sizes,

fit is key.

Doesn't seem right. Oh, yes, it's going to come down, that's why.

-OK.

-Yeah, that's all right.

I think so.

-Yeah, I've got it.

-Try and keep it...

As you get it off now, it will go on easier.

Steady, it's my fault. All right, Logie.

-Good boy.

-Got the wrong set on.

Oh, dear.

Horse-wise, I don't often have time to prepare.

It's literally just taking them out the field, giving them a quick wash,

putting them on the lorry and then off we go.

That's better. Yeah, I've got the wrong set, so...

A lot of people would have time to practise or take them

at least once a week, twice a week. Most weekends I'm working.

Label it, so I know.

Oh, yes.

Down in Hampshire, it is business before pleasure.

I am just splitting up some firewood, ready for the winter.

Just a fill-in job, because the lorry is away today.

John and Martin still have work to do before they can prepare for the

ploughing match.

I started running down to retirement several years ago.

Because driving these days is quite hard, it is quite tiring,

but I am still doing the paperwork and I have still got the telephone,

that I answer the phone and take on the jobs.

He's trying to slow down but it is not working so well at the moment.

I don't know quite how I managed when I was driving,

as well as doing the paperwork.

Yeah, it is very important to me to be always around the family.

We've always grew up on our family farm at home and we were always out,

working together and doing everything together, really.

I wouldn't like to be any other way, to be honest.

The farm I grew up on, it's not an overly big farm,

but it wasn't big enough to support all of us.

So we all sort of went our separate ways and they still farm it at home.

But I am obviously not there any more, so...

In the farm's workshop, Martin's wife Claire is also hard at work.

Claire trained as a harness maker.

It's a job to compete with the stuff coming in from abroad,

so Claire has sort of evolved into doing a lot of repairs.

Yes, I get a lot of family requests.

It is a very niche thing to do.

There aren't many harness makers in the country.

We are a fairly rare breed.

Obviously if you want to make it a mass production thing

then stitching by machine is a lot quicker,

but I prefer to stitch by hand.

I would say it was very inevitable I'd marry a horseman.

Being that we are so involved in horses, I think it would...

I don't think it would work.

The next generation of horse lovers is on the way,

as Claire is expecting their first child.

I think my baby is going to have to be horsey, to be honest.

-Hello, boys.

-I am not sure she is going to have much option in this.

Good boy.

Particularly if Martin has anything to do with it,

then it will be a ploughing person as well.

I did ask if she could grow up a little bit first.

He said by the time she was seven...

I think that might be a little young.

There you go, boys. That looks better, doesn't it?

Girls, walk on.

Martin and John are both really keen to pass their ploughing tricks

down the line.

We will go up and put them on the plough for

a couple of turns, just to settle them down, get them used to it.

Steady, steady.

To pass things on to the next generation of horsemen, women,

is what we like to do.

Come here.

Ploughing is a skill, and it is a skill you have to learn.

Giddy up. Vitamin... Whoa.

We try and help other people, but when sort of John came into it,

there was all the older people that had actually worked with horses,

and a lot of them, they wouldn't pass it on.

And now if we don't pass it on, it is going to die out.

One of the best ways to keep the tradition alive is taking part in

ploughing matches like the one in South Bucks,

where John and Martin are heading tomorrow.

This is my pair that I will be ploughing with tomorrow.

I like to put them on and get them just back in the sort of ploughing

mode, and it just gets them back into thinking,

"Oh, that is what we have got to do," so it is generally worth

the exercise.

Girls, walk on.

90% of ploughing is down to them.

If they go right and steady and do as you tell them,

you are well over halfway there, aren't you?

-Yeah.

-There's a good girl.

Steady.

There will be no shortage of rivalry in South Bucks.

One part of doing a ploughing match is to try and win.

Whoa. I am going to try and beat Martin,

and Martin is going to try and win as well.

If it wasn't so competitive, no-one would get better.

Yeah, I got to the stage when I was just going ploughing

and that was it, but since Martin has come and started...

-Given him a kick.

-And I plough next to him and he is sort of doing a bit

better, I sort of think, well, perhaps I should do a bit better...

-Yeah.

-..to try and not make him look, made me look so silly.

If he beats me tomorrow, I won't say, well,

"I am not going to give you a ride home, you have got to stay there."

We'll still come home and discuss

that the judges probably weren't right.

Mind your bum.

-Good boy.

-Time to get the horses on board.

The South Bucks ploughing match awaits.

-Good boy. Come on.

-I know you're bored,

but you'll just have to wait a minute.

John and Martin, and Paul and Heather have competed

-against each other before.

-Come on, Vitamin.

Come on, boys.

For all of them, it will be their first time

at the prestigious contest in Buckinghamshire.

-Good boy. Stay there.

-Mind your nose.

See you in a bit, boys.

-Have we got everything, then?

-Yeah, I think we have.

In the village of Frieth,

more than 450 local farmers are beginning to gather.

This is the Royals South Bucks Agricultural Association's

ploughing match.

It's been held every year in this area since 1833,

except during the First and Second World Wars.

For the last two decades,

only machines have ploughed against each other,

but today the excitement is building.

The old tradition of horse ploughing is about to be reinstated.

Nice to have farmers all in one place,

down tools after a busy harvest and come and have

a bit of a social and a get-together.

It is 7:30 in the morning, and John isn't leaving anything to chance.

He and Rowena are up early to prepare, as is Martin.

-Good lad. Stand there.

-A former European ploughing champion,

Martin is at the top of his game with a reputation to defend.

John sees today as a great opportunity

to beat his talented son-in-law and show he has still got it.

We came up last night, just because of how far away we are.

The horses travel well. They're used to it.

They have travelled all over the place.

Today, it's an excellent turnout.

There are four teams of horses competing, as well as 30 tractors.

While they all wait to be assigned a plot to plough,

John does a bit of ground reconnaissance.

Any information gathered now could be vital in winning the match.

-It is a bit stony. There's a couple...

-That's a fair-sized one.

There is another big stone.

When the plough hits them, it tends to make them jump.

-Yeah.

-So it can be quite exciting if you're on the other end.

My chances today are as good as anybody else's, I suppose.

-Yeah.

-It can depend very much on how your horses are behaving,

because obviously it's not just the ground and the plough

and the man on the end - it's this lot.

Morning, everyone. Welcome to the ploughing association match.

-Morning.

-Ploughing starts at nine o'clock sharp.

Each competitor has three hours to plough a 375 square-metre plot.

John McDermott, 41.

-Thank you very much.

-Martin Kerswell, 42.

-Thank you.

-Plots assigned, 15 minutes to go,

but still no sign of Paul and Heather.

Paul Walsh, number 40.

Not quite here. He's not here yet.

Ploughing competitions are not about speed,

but today there is a strict deadline to adhere to.

We are the only society that puts on a hot lunch with so many numbers of

people sitting down, so that is a big thing for us,

so everybody has to be finished.

So there will be a lot of fast ploughing going on out there,

once we do get going.

With a delicious lunch less than four hours away,

there's no time to waste.

First thing to do, mark out your plot.

Everyone is raring to go,

but there is a tradition that needs to be honoured first.

O Lord, our God, our great provider,

maker of both horse and rider,

bless these beasts...

At this year's show,

the ritual blessing of the ploughing match has also made a comeback.

And when they have done their best, give them comfort, peace and rest.

Through Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord.

-Amen.

-Amen.

Just as they are ready to roll,

Paul and Heather finally make an appearance.

Here is Paul Walsh here.

He is very local and he's last to get here.

Come on, then. Down you come. Steady. Take your time.

Just take your time. Come on.

Hopefully he'll get on with it a bit quicker and catch up with us.

Always worried about going to new venues.

You know, especially little places like this tucked away in the

countryside. You make a mistake with a lorry and a trailer, you know,

it is not always easy to turn round,

but we are here now, so that's good.

Off they go. Three hours and 375 square metres to plough,

and the former champion looks determined.

It's not long before John and Martin complete their first furrows.

The furrow up across the field is always a crucial one.

If you can get it straight, it makes you feel

as though you are doing better.

Got a little bit of a wiggle in it, but nothing too bad.

We'll be able to sort that out in a minute.

The judge is following every move.

I judge all aspects of ploughing.

I've been doing that for about 23 years now.

Judge Stephens is looking for various skills today,

each worth 20 points, including straightness and general appearance.

In a good ploughman, I expect to see when he first starts ploughing to

actually read the soil,

because it helps with his settings on his plough.

Greeting John gives Paul the perfect excuse to check out the ground.

-Could put more moisture down there, actually.

-Yeah, I think

it'll come up a little bit slightly.

Despite owning seven ploughs,

Paul's worried he may have brought the wrong one today.

A little bit concerned it is not heavy enough for today

because you need the weight to get it in the ground.

He'll have to think quickly to find a solution.

Put a weight on there, or... It might be a hindrance.

I hope it isn't, but we'll see.

Step up.

-Come on.

-Finally, half an hour after everybody else,

Paul and Heather set off.

Come out of it.

This is where you can lose or win a match in the opening.

You get high points on your opening.

-Go on, then. Go on.

-Yes, yes.

Steady. Steady.

Steady, Logie, steady.

It's that all-important first furrow,

but things are not going to plan.

-We've taken the wrong line.

-Have you taken the wrong line?

-Yes.

-How did you do that?

Time for a new strategy.

I'm going to put Heather on the handles.

-That's it.

-A few feet away on the other team,

Rowena is also helping out.

I am the safety officer, really. You have two brains here

that are not necessarily on the same wavelength

as the ploughman, and if they don't want to stand still

then somebody has basically got to hold on to them

and make sure they do while they're doing adjustments.

There's lots of stop-start in ploughing and that gives Rowena

the chance to chat with the girls.

She is a show horse. She says, "This is really beneath me," you know.

"I should be looking beautiful."

You look beautiful, dear, but you just have to put up with a plough.

I have to, you have to.

That's life.

The judges want the ploughed soil to be compact and free of rubbish.

There are a few stones in it.

I had a brick just now.

According to some rules, you are not allowed to handle the plot,

but it is very tempting if you have a bit of rubbish stuck up

or if by just kicking it a bit you can make it all look a bit tidier.

People do it, yes,

but they call it gardening.

Martin has been ploughing with ease

but even a champion needs to check his work.

The ground in places is a bit challenging.

He just goes along and anything that is slightly out of line,

you just have to push it back with our feet.

They don't call it gardening if they use their feet.

It's only if they use their hands they're gardening, apparently.

Come to your left a bit, bring it out.

On Paul and Heather's plot, things are still challenging.

-Not yet, we are not at the market.

-Oh, sorry.

-It is not easy

on Heather, which I appreciate,

but she is doing all right, she is doing well

and I'm glad I've got to go on the handles because it gives me

a chance just to control the horse a bit.

The judges might have spotted the problem.

-Steady, Logie!

-Not a very even speed.

He keeps pushing them over, doesn't he?

I don't know whether having two different sized horses makes

the difference. I'll make Logie realise he doesn't have to do it all

himself, you know, there is Monty there and they have to work as

a team and not just on his own. Right, we'll have another go, then.

All right, Heather?

Stand still.

Stand.

-Stand.

-Wait, wait!

Stand!

He heard them say "walk on".

Stand still! Stand!

-Whoa!

-I'm in now. Oh, God.

Whoa!

He heard John say "walk on".

Yeah, he heard you say...

It's OK.

-Good boy.

-Paul finally gets on top of things.

Things can change between the start and the finish.

He will probably improve his marks later on.

Keep it up, good boys.

Yeah, it's ploughing a lot better now.

That looks a lot better. Look at that.

We have a bit of a straight line at last.

There's hope yet!

We are making a decent job

compared to how we started. We had a bad start.

Those three are far better than me, but they do a lot more of it.

I am just proud to be here amongst them, really, and be part of it.

Watching the ploughing competition today

is a Royal South Bucks veteran.

I'm really too old for the job, but they have roped me in, you see.

In the last 62 years, there has been an absolute sea change

in the whole structure of farming.

Because the farms have got so much bigger,

that means farmers no longer have many farming neighbours

and then it's really nice to have a big event of this sort,

where all of the different farmers from South Bucks all meet together.

Today's event has been no small feat for the organisers.

In a few minutes, there's going to be a sit-down lunch, in a field,

in a tent, for 460, for a hot three-course meal,

prepared without a kitchen.

Now, that's quite good going, isn't it?

But no-one is allowed to eat until the ploughing match is over.

After a late start, Paul and Heather are the first ones to finish.

Good boy. Aren't you? Hey?

-Good lad.

-A good experience for everybody.

It will be nice to sit down. Although I do like doing it.

If I don't have a go, I feel cheated.

The other contestants can't quite relax just yet.

After nearly four hours, John has finally finished.

It's not just what it looks like from either end,

it's what it looks like when they go across it,

because it has to be firm enough, but not too firm.

It's all quite complicated and complex.

So we'll just have to see what the judge thinks, really.

Hopefully it will be OK.

John won't leave the field because his son-in-law, Martin,

is not quite there.

I don't want to upset his chances by taking the horses away.

Because they live together now,

if you take one lot away, the other lot think,

"Oh, they've gone, why can't I?"

And it's over.

Martin has finished at last.

I'm quite happy. It's all down to the judges now.

Most importantly, he's got

the seal of approval from his wife.

Yeah. I've got a thumbs-up, so that's all right.

It's been a tough morning, and no-one knows the outcome yet.

I think we'll all sleep well tonight.

Horses AND us, I think.

Everyone has worked up an appetite.

Time for a well-earned reward.

May I welcome everybody here for the 173rd ploughing match and luncheon.

This lunch is an important highlight

of the local farming calendar.

In the 1950s, they hosted 100 farmers.

Today, it's closer to 500.

Back in the '50s, the ploughmen had to stand outside the tent

and we used to pass the cups through the back of the tent.

The ploughmen now come and eat with us.

Waiting for the verdict can be nerve-racking.

But, for now, it's time for the horsemen to put the competition

out of mind and enjoy the feast.

Much better than we normally get,

a little bag in the middle of the field,

a few sandwiches.

Couldn't wish for nothing better, really.

A very special occasion, really. It's lovely the way they do it.

-Very nice indeed.

-As long as they keep it going. You need to keep

these type of occasions going, really.

Ben Connell.

During lunch, the prize-giving begins.

The winner this year, the Connell Partnership.

It's now Robert's joy to fill it with bubbly

and you all are then asked to drink his health from that cup.

-This is really nice.

-It is very nice.

Very smooth. Very nice.

Slipping down a treat, it is!

Especially after all that walking up and down.

At last, the results are about to be announced.

Our next award is going to be to the ploughmen.

Martin is dying to know if he's beaten his father-in-law.

And in first place...

..Martin Kerswell.

John is not going home empty-handed.

He and Rowena win the first prize for the best turned-out horses.

That's a nice trophy, John, isn't it?

-Lovely cup, isn't it?

-Very nice.

-Brilliant, John.

-More polishing.

-Well done.

Well done, that's good.

The Royal South Bucks Agricultural Association Show is coming to an end

for another year.

-There's a good lad.

-Time for our farmers to stand back and reflect.

-We had a good day.

-Very nice.

-A lovely agricultural show.

-We'd come back again. Certainly.

-Yeah. We both had a fun day, I think.

-Yeah.

I'm very pleased with the results.

Obviously I always try to come first if I can.

John always tries to make sure I don't!