Veritable feast of farming heritage comes to Fife

HISTORY: Focus on war effort at vintage machinery event

All roads will lead back to Kilmaron at Cupar on Sunday when this year’s Fife Farming Heritage Show gets under way.

The highly popular event will once again be full of action and information as the organisers, the Fife Vintage Agricultural Machinery Club, put the spotlight on an aspect of rural heritage.

New features for this year include a Saturday car boot sale, while on the Sunday there is a new pedal tractors class to encourage youngsters into the vehicle preservation hobby.

Youngsters with their entries will be accepted on the day.

There will also be trade stands, a craft fair in the marquee which will be full of smaller exhibits and children’s competitions and amusements.

This year the club will tell the history of forestry, honey production and the First World War’s impact on the countryside.

The significance of timber’s place in the rural and sustainable energy economy, beekeeping’s place in our ecology and the Great War’s place in or nation’s history will all be featured.

Displays and demonstrations will help tell the story of the timber crop, with several items of timber machinery being put to work as well as Scotland’s largest collection of chain saws.

Timber usage during the First World War led to the formation of the Forestry Commission and the effect of the war on the country will be illustrated with photographs as well as a display of vehicles from the period.

The organisers will highlight the centenary of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland’s three tractor trials held in October 1917 at sites near Cramond in Edinburgh, Blackhill in Glasgow and Scone near Perth.

Examples of tractors that took part will be on show alongside the first two Fowler BB1 steam ploughing engines ordered by the UK Government to help the ploughing-up campaign. One of them was driven by Lloyd George out of the Steam Plough Works in Leeds in 1918.

Several beekeepers will show how important bees are to our ecology and how honey is produced. The event will also mark the centenary of the creation of the Scottish Women’s Rural Institute.

Heavy horses, steam and stationary engines, vintage and classic tractors and farm machinery, motor cycles and cars of all makes sizes and ages will fill the field.

There will be a chance to win a 1938 Allis Chalmers Model B tractor as the event, which is part of Open Farm Sunday, raises money through its raffle for Poppy Scotland.

A large entry of Case, Ford and Massey Ferguson tractors will mark the 175th, 100th and 60th anniversaries of each respective make. Many other rare and unusual machines will also be on parade.

Enthusiasts will converge on Kilmaron at Cupar.