BYGONE DAYS: Success of match speaks highly of NI farming says agri minister

More than 80 competitors entered the two day event, and thousands of people who had flocked to Dundrave for the ploughing produced a record attendance for the championships.

Among the factors which contributed to the success of the event, noted Farming Life, was the dry weather and lighter soil. Farming Life’s correspondent at the championships commented: “This meant that farmers could plough with relative ease, not having to endure muddy quagmires which had bedeviled some previous championships.”

And it was not just top class ploughing and prize money which drew competitors and crowds, that year there were more than 80 trade stands, “giving the championships more of an air of the annual agricultural shows”.

Sponsorship had also benefitted the organisers’ ability to attract the best ploughers, as well as the lure of gaining a place in the world finals in the United States of America in 1988.

NIPA secretary Chris McConaghy told Farming Life that “a few thousand pounds” had been available in prize money from sponsors.

He said that while the number of entrants from Eire was up, as was the overall total number of competitors, the number of English and Scottish contestants had dropped dramatically because of the recent storms in Great Britain.

Mr McConaghy said that many English competitors who would have normally come across had been forced to pull out because they had to attend to their storm damaged farms.

And it was not just the primary Northern Ireland Championships that was attracting entries. There was also a good field of contestants in the vintage, ladies, horse-drawn and visitor classes.

The gently rolling hills of Dundrave – ancestral home of Sir Patrick Macnaghten, which overlooks the sea and the picturesque River Bush gave the crowds a tremendous appetite and members of Dunluce Presbyterian Church who provided the daily lunches did “a roaring trade”.

A number of councillors visited the championships as did the Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Lord Lyell and Presbyterian Moderator Dr William Fleming.

Lord Lyell told Farming Life that the championships “spoke highly of Ulster farming” and the display of trade stands “showed the initiative and resilience” of the province’s farmers.

TOP PRIZE FOR COLERAINE PLOUGHER

Coleraine man Des Wright clinched the 1987 Northern Ireland ploughing championship and collected an armful of silverware.

The 1986 world champion had fought off stiff opposition from fellow Coleraine Ploughing Society member and arch rival William King over the two day battle at the 44th International Ploughing Championships which were held at Bushmills.

Mr King, who took the runner-up spot in 1987, was the Ulster champion in 1986.

Larne man Harold Simms of the Kilroot Ploughing Society took third spot, and James McGladdery of the Moneyrea Ploughing Society was fourth. Fifth place went to another Coleraine Society man Thomas Cochrane.

Mr McGladdery and Mr Simms were to represent Northern Ireland at the world ploughing championships which were to be held in Iowa in the United States in 1988.

CUP WINNERS

Des Wright collected the McClelland Challenge Cup and Tyrone Crystal Trophy for winning the Northern Ireland class; the J Morris McKee Perpetual Challenge Cup and 3M Trophy, the TC Reid Memorial Salver for overall championship winner as well as the T and J McErval (Belfast) Perpetual Challenge Cup.

The Farmers Weekly Perpetual Challenge Cup went to William King. The E T Green Perpetual Challenge Cup and Ulster Farmers’ Union Cup was awarded to Harold Simms. The Steele Perpetual Cup was awarded to James McGladderry.

OTHER RESULTS

Horse championship and International Perpetual Challenge Cup; 1, Martin Gill, Listooder; 2, A Butler, Ballycastle; 3, John Butler, Ballycastle.

Horse style and appearance and perpetual challenge cup; 1, A Butler; 2, B Hanna, Listooder; 3, R Boyle, Islandamagee.

Ladies world style (open) and perpetual challenge cup; Mrs P J McCaul, Monaghan; 2, Mrs Pauline Kearns, Monaghan.

Visitors and eligible competitors class and the William Davidson Perpetual Challenge Cup; 1, Brian O’Neill, Moy; 2, George Irwin, Lylehill; 3, George Murphy, Hillsborough.

Northern Ireland Championship (world style), class one; winner, Des Wright; other qualifiers, W King, J McKee, H Simms, R Sloan, T Clyde, R Park, H Hogg, G Murphy, J A Scott, W Johnston, S Gill, T Cochrane, S Boyle and J P McGladdery.

Northern Ireland Championship (world style), class 3; 1 Des Wright; 2, James McGladdery; 3, William King.

World style Young Farmers class; 1 and the Nora Trophy, David Wright, Loup Ploughing Society; 2, David Gill, Listooder Ploughing Society; 3, Rodney Crawford, Moneyrea Ploughing Society.

Vintage tractor class; 1 and the Gilpin Trophy, S Bowman, South Derry Vintage Club; 2, D Hamilton, Mid-Ulster Vintage Society; and 3, A Campbell, Ulster Tractor Engine Society.