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National Vintage Tractor |
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National Vintage Tractor |
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| The National Vintage Tractor Road Run is an annual event, started in 1985. The event moves from place to place, and this year it was organised by the Cornish Tractor Club. The run, on Easter Sunday, started from the Royal Cornwall Showground at Wadebridge, and took in thirty six miles of Cornish lanes and forest tracks, to finish back at the Showground. The first tractor was on its way before half past eight in the morning and was back at two in the afternoon. All were back for tea. |
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| There were around four hundred tractors on the run, and to try to avoid traffic problems, they set off in batches of twenty or so. The organisers did not receive any complaints about traffic chaos, but there were many reports of the public standing by and watching in amazement as four hundred tractors filed past. Of course, vintage tractors come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and some of those on the run were rather strange looking beasts. Some had come from a very long distance to attend, which is become a tradition with the National Road Run. The owners camped at the Showground before the event, with some arriving on Good Friday to summer weather. Those arriving on the Saturday found the conditions a little cooler, and by the start of the Road Run there was a fairly keen easterly wind to chill the machines and their drivers. With a pasty lunch stop to raise their spirits and a guest appearance of the sub in the afternoon, reports of the day were all very positive. There were very few breakdowns, and only a few lost their way in the lanes. |
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| Whilst the Road Run is “just for fun”, it does have a serious side, as it is a charity fund-raising event. This year, the Cornish Tractor Club has raised several thousand pounds for the Motor Neurone Disease “Thumbs Up” Appeal, and for Cancer Research. One of the greatest money-spinners was the raffle, where the top prize was a 1952 Fordson tractor, fully restored, taxed and insured, and ready for the Road Run. It has gone to a new home in Dartmouth, Devon with its new owner Paul Trinick, who parked up his first tractor and took his “new” Fordson on the run |
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Then it was time to go home |
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