THOUSANDS of people flocked to fields north of Basingstoke to see the country’s top farmers in action at a milestone event.

The British National Ploughing Champion-ships took place in Wootton St Lawrence last weekend, and up to 10,000 people came to watch, despite the poor weather.

It is the first time the competition has been held in Hampshire since 1983, when it took place near Romsey. The 2014 event took place on land owned by three farmers – G B Foot Ltd, E C Drummond & Son, and the Manydown Company.

All 240 competitors took part in a parade of tractors before finding their allotted space in the fields.

There were various categories of competition, including garden tractors, reversible ploughing, and the popular horse-drawn ploughing.

Also on show were giant steam engines, vintage ploughing equipment, craft stalls, and demonstrations by organisations such as Sparsholt College, the National Farmers Union and Kubota tractors.

Ken Chappell, executive director of the Society of Ploughmen, said between 8,000 and 10,000 people came to the site over the weekend.

He said: “It is very competitive – we had former World and European champions compet ing. The general public tended to watch the horses, whereas the farmers would watch the more modern ploughing.

“We were pleased to come to Hampshire, and hopefully it won’t be so long before we return.”

Mr Chappell, whose brother David won the overall conventional ploughing title, said some of the more inexperienced ploughmen struggled in the wet conditions.

Kevin Alexander, a 49-year-old lorry driver, from South Warnborough, competed in the reversible ploughing category, coming ninth out of 17 ploughmen in his first national championships.

The father-of-three said: “It was very good, very enjoyable. There was a bit of pressure on because you are trying to compete against people who are very good at it, but once start ploughing, you forget about that and do the best you can.”