Meet the farmer's daughter who organises the popular Driffield Tractor Run for charity

Les set up the Leven Tractor Run around 10 years ago and Rachel started Driffield Charity Tractor Run that will take place for the seventh time on Sunday March 20.

Rachel said her inspiration for starting Driffield’s own run, that takes in a route of around 34 miles and nine villages, had been her father’s efforts and to raise funds for the First Steps Pre-school.

“I’d grown up behind the wheel of my dad’s tractor, going around our fields, and being a part of the Leven Tractor Run and when we were trying to think of ways in which we could raise funds for First Steps without constantly bombarding parents with fayres, raffles and tombolas I thought of this.

“Pre-schools only receive so much support from government and this way everyone who contributes through tractor entries and through donating in our collecting buckets is helping both the preschool and the Firefighters charity, as we set off from Driffield fire station where my husband works as a fireman.

“It has become a great social event for parents to bring their children on the morning of the run and to have pictures taken with either the fire engines and firemen or the tractors and their drivers and many still contribute by putting money in the buckets as well.

“We normally have around 100 tractors on the day with a mix of around 60-70 per cent being vintage tractors like dad’s Fergie and the rest being more modern bigger tractors like today’s John Deere, Valtra and New Holland.”

Rachel said that she managed to squeeze a run into September last year, but that she has returned to an even earlier date than her normal April date because of possible problems over new restrictions coming into force over the use of red diesel from April 1.

“We had missed our normal dates of April 2020 and 2021 because of pandemic restrictions, but we got one in during September last year with around 70 tractors participating. It got us going again on the tractor run and back raising funds.

“While the new rules about using red diesel are not against agricultural use for actual farming there is a grey area that needs clearing up over such as tractors being on a road using red diesel when they are not engaged in work.

“It needs clearing up, some kind of decision made over tractors taking part in tractor runs, and legislation over whether using red diesel is okay for this, but that’s why I’ve pulled ours forward by about two weeks so that we avoid any embarrassment.

“I also checked that we weren’t stepping on any other tractor run’s toes by arranging ours on the same day as someone else reasonably close by.”

Driffield Tractor Run will be one of the first to get underway in the county in 2022 and Rachel said it has proved popular with all tractor run enthusiasts since she started.

“I always panic that we’re not going to get the numbers we’ve had previously but in the last two weeks the phone has never stopped ringing. We attract tractor drivers from over 50 miles away. We had three from Pontefract last year and there’s a group in Holderness that come with six tractors.

“We’ve never had any bad feedback and many come back year after year. I make a point of changing the route so that they don’t get bored and this year we are setting the run off to Nafferton as it is a straight run from the fire station on Bridlington Road.

“The run has been the same for a few years but this time I’ve managed to get a couple of extra villages in. We will be visiting Nafferton, Wansford, Skerne, Hutton Cranswick, Watton, and Kilham as well as a few other smaller places on the route, keeping as much as we can on the little back roads and causing the least amount of traffic disruption, before coming back to Driffield.

“We make the run morning heavy, which means more miles are done in the morning than the afternoon. Farmers Andrew and Gemma Dixon of Skerne are fantastic as they host the lunchtime pitstop when pies, donated by Rose Cottage Butchers, and peas are served.

"Their whole family is there to welcome everyone as they arrive. The firemen make their tasty bacon sandwiches for everyone in the morning.”

Rachel said that it is her father Les who leads the way.

“Dad looks as proud as punch when he sets off out of the fire station gates. Everything that travels on our runs is restricted to eight miles per hour.”