THERE’S a chill in the air and the nights are drawing in. Autumn is approaching.

This can mean only one thing, an event symptomatic of the season in Herefordshire for the last 75 years: the ploughing competition.

If you have yet to go to one, do! They are a delight.

Photographer Derek Evans thought so too, capturing an event so central to farming, yet so rarely seen at close hand by many of us not involved with agriculture.

For these ploughmen and ploughwomen, this isn’t just about creating a furrow in the gorgeous, fertile soil we have in the county, it is the art, the precision, the skill, the experience, and the dedication to a practice that is all too common, but rarely appreciated by a modern audience distanced to the practices of the farmer.

We should be grateful that we have two active societies in the county that keep the tradition of ploughing competitions alive: Trumpet and District Agriculture Society and Llanwarne and District Agriculture Society, whose annual matches take place in September and October.

There, witness the power of the horse teams, alongside tractors of varying vintage.

And it’s not just ploughing – there are classes for fruit, flowers and handicrafts.

The bounty from the local harvest is a sight to be seen, and Derek Evans never failed to spot an opportunity.

It’s likely it is a scene relatively unchanged in the years since a young Derek was taking these photos.

In one of his atmospheric photos he captures legendary ploughman Horace Samuel in an image of almost iconic quality.

In this ploughing match in October 1958, Horace is the only entrant in the horse ploughing class of the Llanwarne and District Agricultural Society match at Hoarwithy.

It adds to the pathos of the photo, capturing the man and the moment.

It is an iconic image, and must be one of the best farming pictures taken in Herefordshire.

Why not check out some of the other rural life photos in this fabulous archive of photos at www.herefordshirelifethroughalens.org.uk or follow the project blog for regular stories sent straight to you.