Back to the future – Basil retraces his steps to 1947!
By Philip Irwin – Senior News Reporter
A VALE farmer has told the Glamorgan Star about how he came to plough a field in Stormy Down – an amazing 78 years after he first ploughed it!
On a wet and miserable recently (Sunday, 14th September), Basil George, aged 97, didn’t stay at home with his feet up! Instead, he competed in the Vale of Glamorgan Ploughing and Hedging Society’s annual competition.
Despite the rain, Basil fired up his tractor and joined the competition. He told us how it all came about: “At the end of August, the committee of the Vale of Glamorgan Ploughing and Hedging Society decided there was a need to change the venue of the annual ploughing match due to the ground conditions being too dry at Dimlands Farm in Llantwit Major.
“So, committee members followed Richard Anthony to Stormy Down to look at an area that had seen more rain in August and it was decided to hold the competition there.
“Stormy Down had been an RAF airfield during the Second World War. It was a grass airfield and I had cut hay off part of the airfield in 1946. By 1947, I was working on the Tythegston Court Estate for Mr Henry and Mrs Pamela Knight.
“One morning, I was asked to plough the airfield as the RAF had passed it back to the estate. The tractor I was using at the time was an Allis-Chalmers model W-F, pulling a three-furrow Oliver plough. This was in February/March 1947 and, if my memory serves me right, I was ploughing for around three weeks from 8am to 5pm each day, wearing an ex-army greatcoat, balaclava headgear and waterproof leggings with ex-pilot gloves and perched on the seat of the Allis-Chalmers.
“Now, almost 80 years later, I was back again ploughing, this time with my grey Fergy as a pastime and enjoying it, albeit still out in the wind and rain – but this time it was just for a couple of hours!
“It was nice to meet the grandchildren of those I worked for all those years ago, and I wish them all well for the future.”
By Philip Irwin – Senior News Reporter
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