30/12/2023 The Pull of the Plough

The art of ploughing the land and keeping a straight furrow has been a way of life in the British Isles for thousands of years, so much so that ploughing terms have become embedded in our language and culture; from pub names and church hymns to popular songs and the humble ploughman's lunch. While phrases such as ‘ploughing on’ and someone ‘ploughing a lonely furrow’ are second nature. Vernon Harwood visits the British National Ploughing Championships near Taunton to meet the people with a passion for ploughs and ploughing to discover why the task of turning the soil holds such a fascination. Along the way he meets the man who cares for a priceless collection of Victorian ploughs in Berkshire, a famous cheese-maker with a prized Gloucestershire Long Plough, a celebrated folk singer keeping forgotten plough songs alive and comes nose-to-muzzle with Sam and Tilly, the last working plough horses in Somerset. Archive material used in this programme:

Speed The Plough: Moreton in Marsh Ploughing Competitions; BBC National Programme 30/09/1938

Gloucestershire Long Plough; Country Matters, BBC Radio Gloucestershire 30/03/2014 Contributors:

Dr Ollie Douglas, Sue Frith, Martin Horler, Jim Huntley, Trevor Johnstone, Alan Jones, John Kirkpatrick, Charles Martell, Deb Puxty, Simon Witty and Michael Wyman. Produced and presented by Vernon Harwood.