Tractor pull bosses gear up for top Shropshire show

The Championship tractor pull at Dearnford Lake, near Whitchurch, which was called off in March due to cold and snowy weather, will now take place on Saturday and Sunday.

Tractor and Land Rover fanatics from across the UK are busy fitting helicopter engines in their vehicles ready for the event.

On Sunday there will be a car boot and collectors fair and bosses will also launch the new Dearnford Lake Geocaching site.

Rob Bebbington, manager at Dearnford, said it would be a particularly busy weekend.

He said: "We expect to have about 5,000 people across the weekend.

"We have mini Land Rovers for the children to drive. Various food stands, a juggling workshop, there's something for everyone."

The tractor pull, voted the best pull of the year last year, will see people compete to pull a special weight transferring sledge as far as possible along a 100m track.

All profits from the event will go to Whitchurch Hospital League of Friends and Hope House Children's Hospice.

The spectacle has been organised by Malpas and South West Tractor Pulling Clubs.

Mr Bebbington said: "We've got gentlemen from Scotland and even Ireland coming to bring their tractors. On Saturday evening we have the night pull which is quite a spectacle.

"They're proper anoraks that have modified their tractors. Some have used helicopter engines which they run on meth to get the most horsepower out of the tractors."

The event will run from 11am until 11pm on Saturday and again from 11am until 6pm on Sunday. Admission is £10 a day or £15 for the weekend, or free for under 16s.

The new Geocaching site will also be launched in a special spider tent between 11am and 3pm on Sunday. The car boot and collectors' fair, in aid of Prees Primary School, will set up at 7.30am and gates open to the public at 8am.

Cost to stallholders is between £8 and £12, depending on the size of the vehicle, and entry is £1 for adults.