Agricultural show goes back in time
Pic being taken at noon on Wednesday 25 July. Nige
PEOPLE will have a chance to see authentic 1950s farming at a Vintage Agricultural Show in the Castel next weekend.
Working displays of horse-drawn ploughing, reaping and threshing of barley, and straw baling will all be taking place using period tools and equipment.
The event is the brainchild of Ron Le Cras, Rodney Dyke and Jim Jamouneau.
Taking place over two days at La Haye du Puits, it will also feature a display of classic cars, an animal tent, a beer tent, and Crown and Anchor, while the gates to the garden will also be opened to the public.
‘We put the idea to the West Show, but the land there isn’t big enough,’ said Mr Le Cras.
‘Then Mr and Mrs Barton-Wright kindly made their land available to us at Haye du Puits.’
A field of barley has been sown and people will be able to watch it being reaped on the Saturday and threshed later in the day and on the Sunday.
Everybody involved in the show will be wearing period costume.
Two champion horse ploughmen will coming from the UK – Mick Huxty with his two Clydesdale horses and Kim Williams with his two Belgian Ardennes – to carry out demonstrations.
It is believed that nothing like this has been done in Guernsey since the 1970s. A horse-drawn van courtesy of Richard Heaume will be on display along with an old Guernsey Brewery dray.
Much of the threshing and hay-making equipment belongs to Lloyd Robilliard.
Some 15 to 16 tractors will be working over the course of the weekend and straw will be fed into an old-fashioned stationary baler.
‘We decided to do it because it’s something different in the way of a show,’ said Mr Le Cras.
‘In my view, our traditional country shows have become a bit stale and haven’t really changed since I was a kid.
‘We think it will be an education for the under-50s to see how things were done back then.’
One tractor dates from about 1960, but the rest will all be from the 1950s and even 1940s.
The event takes place on the weekend of 4 and 5 August between 11am and 7pm. Admission will be £5 for adults and £2 for children. Under 5s go free and there will be no charge for parking.
