Tractor heritage, news and features

Welcome... May 2011

For many it was described as the best one yet and I recall reporting at the time that the marshalling of more than 460 tractors on a 25-mile course along tight country lanes and small villages took the organisation of the event to yet another level.

And it looks like Henry Dixon and his team will require at least the same amount of organisational skill to cope with the predicted number of tractors set to turn out this Easter Sunday for the NRR 2011. Word has it that the total number of tractors attending will be in excess of the 591-tractor record for the event previously set at Turnberry Airfield in Ayrshire some years ago.

But organisation has been a keyword for the event over the past few years, certainly the well-stewarded start to the event has stopped the melee caused by tractors rushing for the line. This was something introduced by Brian Watson at the 22nd NRR in County Durham and repeated last year by Keith and Jane Broomhall in Norfolk.

Each year the event gets better and we look forward to the cracking event Henry Dixon and his team will have lined up for us. The 2011 National is at the Haverfordwest Showground, Pembrokeshire on Easter Sunday, 24 April. For more information contact Ashley Godsall (01432 820361) or Henry Dixon (01348 840033). The run continues to be an unusual and rewarding way to raise much needed funds for charity.

Although several events of note have already taken place it always seems that the National Road Run is the trigger for the event season to get off the starting blocks.

News of events large and small has been flooding in and our event database is now well over 650 strong, which just confirms the ground swell of interest in the heritage scene.

Our website has been updated with all this information and is now ‘live’, so if you want to search for an event in your area or for a particular time of year just take a trip to www.tractorheritage.co.uk

We have also redesigned our ‘what’s on’ pages in the magazine starting from this issue to make use of some of the information we also receive to give you a further idea of the events.

Events and clubs go hand in hand and also in this issue we feature the Link Club, aka the ‘Cat Club’ for dedicated fans of classic and vintage Caterpillar tractors and machinery. This is one of our focus features on the development and work of clubs associated with our tractor heritage and we hope to bring you more over forthcoming issues. If you would like Tractor magazine to feature your tractor club, please drop us a line.

Tony Hoyland
Editor