OCA Course: A Sequence of Composition.

Iconic trademarks no longer seen.

Gleaming chromium.

Gorgeous paint-job.

All parts in working order.

Familiar names.

Famous brands.

Seductive curves.


I then moved on to photograph the "raison-d'etre" of the show, the beautifully restored examples of bygone days on the land. Most tractors are driven to destruction and dumped in the corner of a field or yard when finished with, so they often need a lot of restoration.


Or just thinking of times past.

Jealously eyeing the opposition.

And one wanting some TLC.

A rarity beautifully restored.

Some cast a critical eye.

Can I have one Dad?

"Chewing the fat"!

Discussing the merits and drawbacks.

There are some real characters around these shows, so I moved around the exhibits to try and catch a few unawares.

Junior reporters in relaxed mode.

Don't even think about it!

Lots of dust and wheelspin!

It's a "Tractor Pull", a challenge for owners to test the power of their tractor by pulling a sledge which increaes in weight as it is pulled down the course.

What's going on here?

Lots of tractors, large and small. This gives a general impression of what it's all about.

This is the UK Vintage Tractor Show, staged at Pickering, North Yorkshire. I saw a roadside advert and thought it might be interesting for a sequence. I didn't even have to pay the entry fee as there was no-one on the gate!
There are many agricultural people who take an interest in restoring old tractors and farm impliments, and they often exhibit their examples at local village shows, but this is the UK "biggy", and they come from all over the country to show, look, and trade.
I wandered around the event with a wide-angle, and a medium telephoto zoom, lenses, trying to look inconspicuous. I wanted to get an overall impression of the event, and of some of the characters, closing in eventually on the exhibits themselves and the painstaking effort that goes into their restoration. As I grew up on a farm, many of the exhibits were familiar. I learned to drive on a "Fergie"!
(These images are posted as e-mail size because of the number involved and the long upload times for anything over a few hundred kilobytes.)
This whole course is in danger of developing a tractor theme!