I wonder if either would have bet at the time that they would lay the foundation for a historic group – the Crockton & District Plowing & Hedging Society – which some 97 years later is still going strong.
So strong that the group’s remarkable volunteer team has just celebrated a special honor – the Kings Award for Voluntary Service 2024.
They were one of 281 groups named as Kings Award recipients this month and one of eight in Shropshire, along with Oswestry Borderland Tourism Ltd (Visit Oswestry), Shrewsbury & Oswestry Crucial Crew, Shrewsbury Up & Comers FC, Shropshire Beekeepers Association and Shropshire with the Beekeepers Association. Sustainable Newport, Telford & Wrekin Interfaith Council and Albrighton Trust.
“We are over the moon,” said Karen Pritchard, secretary of Crockton & District Plowing Society, reflecting on the special award.
“We got email confirmation in October and it had to be quiet. We had a meeting with the whole committee the night before the announcement nationally.
“Everyone was just so shocked. I don’t think it’s really sunk in for a lot of us.
“It’s a great achievement and an honor to be selected. The beauty of this is that it’s an award for everyone, it can’t be pinned on one person.
“It is not only a reward for the current committee and others involved in the match now, but also for the many members who have been involved in the Society and the plowing match in the past.
“The number of people who have been involved over many years, as you can imagine, is phenomenal.
“It’s incredible to think that it started with just two farmers in a pub in the 1920s, such small origins, but it has grown and developed into what it is today.”
A registered charity, run by volunteers, all of whom work without pay, to encourage and promote competitions, demonstrations and social events related to ploughing, hedgerowing and farm management.
And it has its origins in that first Cruckton Plowing Match held in 1927.
The club had only been formed that year as a result of the previously mentioned draw held at the Hare & Hounds pub in Cruckton, where the club held its meetings for many years.
The first, second and third prizes were then £5, £3 and £2 respectively. The wage at the time was £1.50 for a 56-hour week.
Tractor plowing classes were first introduced in 1939.
Within a few years these numbers rapidly outgrew the number of horse plowing classes, but Cruckton retained the honor of holding the British Isles Championships for Horse Ploughing.
After an enforced hiatus during the Second World War, Cruckton once again became an important fixture in the agricultural calendar.
The only other times the Club was unable to hold a match were in 1967 due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the county and in 2020 due to the Covid outbreak.
Hedge setting competitions and Sheepdog Trials have also been a regular sight at many matches.
“The committee is just carrying on the legacy and it just seems to be going from strength to strength,” Karen reflects.
“In the early years it was a basic plowing match where farmers went to compete and it was just that.
“But in recent years it has become something for the whole family and we are really proud of that.
“We’ve moved with the times, keeping people interested, and we have a great store and smaller departments.”
“It’s still a rural, rural thing and we have a fantastic input from people. The messages are always great after the event when people say what a great day it is.
“It’s a great atmosphere, especially when the weather is good. When the sun shines, we have people in the evening until 9-9pm, and it’s always worth the hard work the volunteers put in.”
The committee already has its vision for next year’s event, when the Kings Award is handed out.
Two lucky members of the Society will also get to visit Buckingham Palace and attend a garden party.
Although achieving the award was a detailed process, the news in November makes it all worthwhile, Karen adds.
“We did a lot of hard work after the appointment and I I wanted to cry for joy when we found out we made it,” she said.
“WWe thought at the time, if we didn’t go for it, we’d never know. Unless you have to try things, it is impossible to achieve your hopes and dreams.
“So we are thrilled that we tried now and look forward to welcoming our guests to present the award at our match next summer.
“We are already excited for the next plowing match. We will start planning the next event in January and we will come up with new things to bring and make it even more special in 2025.”