Vintage tractor plough raises over £12,000 for prostate cancer charity

tractor plough - l-r Fred Mottram - Ian Bulkeley - Garry Walker prior to the start of the ploughathon (1)

A fundraising vintage tractor ploughathon took place at Aston, near Wrenbury, has helped raise a huge £12,000 for charity, writes Jonathan White.

The “3 Men and a Furrow” 24-hour vintage tractor ploughathon involved three friends – Ian Bulkeley, Fred Mottram and Gary Walker.

They wanted to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK.

The trio and their vintage toys ploughed a 250-metre-long field owned by farmer Neil Goodwin on Pinsley Green Road/Wrenbury Road.

The vintage tractors used were a Fordson Major, Fordson Super Major and Fiat Super 1000 DT.

The 24-hour period was started via the loud whistles from a steam traction engine and two miniature steam traction engines.

There was a display of new and vintage tractors, along with a children’s fairground ride, a raffle and a chance to win a children’s John Deere ride-on tractor.

Refreshments were available on both days with Ploughman’s lunches on Saturday and bacon baps on Sunday.

The Malpas Charity Tractor Road Run of over 70 tractors did a lap of honour of the field as part of their rally.

The event was sponsored by local firms including RLH Print, Joseph Heler Cheese, NFU, LLM Vets, HJ Lea Oaks, Phillip Posnett, Barnett Cooke Jones, E Nield & Partner Ltd, Barbers Auctions, Garratts Scrap Metal Ltd, Harbrook Engineering, U store all Ltd, Baldwins Top Soil, Bidlea Dairy, Baker Wynn & Wilson, Malpas Tractors, Geoff Hadfield, Reaseheath College, Cornthwaite Group, Beam Heath Trust, Nick Brookes Group, Leisure Surfaces Cheshire, TG Builders Merchants, MJR Pressure Washer Services Whitchurch, Geoff Hadfield Clarke Metal services, James Willis, Jackson Property Services, Nantwich Veterinary Group Equine Centre, Alistair Broadwith Services Morris Oils, Charlesworth Family Smeaton Wood, Blue Loos, Charles Blake Malpas, Stamford Agricultural Services, Matthew Baldwin Plant Hire, Brad Rushton Agricultural Equestrian Buildings, Haughton Honey, Clarke Metal Services, The Nantwich Show, Broxton Gates, Tyres & Tubes.

The ploughathon raised an incredible £12,500 of much needed funds for Prostate Cancer UK.

Prostate Cancer UK aims to stop prostate cancer being a killer – a disease claiming the life of one man every 45 minutes in the UK.