Chertsey Ploughing Match - results just in!!!

As many of you will know, Patrick Martin bravely took the Otters into new fields of endeavour (quite literally) on Bank Holiday Monday by entering his hand-built tractor in the Novice class of the Chertsey Ploughing Match, held at Wey Manor Farm.

It's a trickier business than it looks and it's fair to say that the dryness of the tilth didn't help Tractor Pat pull a sweet furrow this year. (I have no idea what that means, but, yes, it probably is as dirty as it sounds.) Patrick did well, but struggled with his dismount and paid the price when it came to the judging (see picture). Despite an heroic first effort at the wheel, he lost out to competitors who were half his age but about 50 times more experienced.


"I knew I was in trouble when the judge came by and asked me when the shelling had stopped," said Patrick, who was ably aided and abetted by the improbably named Steve Spong (he of the Lightwater Spongs) who will take the helm at the tractor's next outing this weekend.

Patrick would like to thank the surprisingly large numbers of Otters who came out to cheer him on and who simultaneously discovered that, yes, ploughing matches really are as surreal as they sound.