Nottinghamshire Young Farmers' Club and Newark's local farming community celebrate Plough Sunday at Newark Market Place

Newark and its local farming community met to celebrate Plough Sunday.

Members of the Nottinghamshire Young Farmers’ Club led a civic procession from Newark Town Hall.

They were followed by the Mayor of Newark, Mr Tony Roberts, and the Nottinghamshire chairman of the National Farmers’ Union, Mr Andrew Baugh, accompanied by prominent members of the farmers’ union, East Midlands region, together with invited guests.

They headed to the parish church for a service.

The plough was blessed by the Bishop of Sherwood, the Right Rev Tony Porter, and the address was given by the Rev Chris Lee.

In his address, Mr Roberts said: “As the calendar year goes round with absolute certainty, so does the agricultural year, perhaps with a little less certainty given the unpredictability of the good old British weather.

“Am I alone in remembering as a child the clear defining lines between the seasons?

“There were four of them I seem to recall. The balmy summers, the mists and chill of autumn, the frosts and snow of winter and the soft rains and soothing winds of spring time.

“For whatever reason we can no longer rely on the seasons appearing when they should.

“This must make the life of the farmer so much more difficult. Along with all the rules, regulations, red-tape, even the weather is rarely on your side.

“Where would we be without those who are willing to invest their time and energy in feeding us and clothing us and also manage the countryside that many enjoy driving and riding through on warm summers’ days.

“We face interesting times over the next few weeks and months.

“There is already talk in the media of people and companies stockpiling, ready for whatever the future, post-Brexit, holds.

“Even more than ever, we will be reliant on our farming community to provide this nation with our daily necessities, the milk for our tea and coffee, the grains for our wholegrain cereals, the ham for our sandwiches, and the eggs, cheese, fruit, meat, vegetables.

“We cannot do without you.”

Plough Sunday traditionally marks the beginning of a new farming year and, in its current form, dates from the Victorian times.

In earlier days there were Plough Monday celebrations that denoted a return to work after the Christmas season.