Fergusons and steam at Glanllyn Fields
The weather turned up. So did the grey Fergies. Glanllyn Fields near Penrhiwpal filled for the Teifi Valley Vintage Preservation Society’s annual show, 10am to 5pm, hay in the ring, miniature steam building pressure, a car boot that had already eaten the morning, and a grand parade that ran long because every owner got the microphone.
Each year the society picks a make. This year it was Ferguson tractors and equipment, with a heavy turnout of 1960s machines. Richard Bateman’s Ferguson Brown did the haymaking display. Motorcycles lined the ring. The DI Evans International collection came over from Beulah, as it usually does.
Money from the gate and the tins is split three ways: the oxygen therapy centre in Cardigan, Cancer Research Wales, and Wales Air Ambulance. That is the valley model, a borrowed field, a collection tin, three causes everyone in the queue has used or expects to. The society has been doing this since the first show at Hafod, Sarnau, in 1983. It has sat at Glanllyn since 2009.
What the day looked like
-
Morning
Car boot and autojumble first. Bargains go early. Miniature steamers warming while the field is still filling.
-
Ring
Haymaking with period kit. Fergusons as the special. Stationary engines, commercials, bikes and classic cars around the edge.
-
Close
Grand parade of all makes. Interviews over the PA until the last tractor has been talked about. That is the bit people stay for.
The club behind the field
Five local enthusiasts started what became the Teifi Valley group of the National Vintage Tractor & Engine Club in the late 1970s. The show skipped 2001 for foot-and-mouth, and 2020–21 for Covid. Lyn Jones has been secretary and organiser for years; he showed a motorbike at the first event and has not missed one since.
Typical take in recent seasons has been around £10,000 split across the year’s named causes. Exact 2026 figures come out at the autumn presentation evening, usually at Café Emlyn in Tanygroes. Until then: it was a good day, and the tins were not empty.