Auction a reminder of Yorkshire’s farming heritage and importance of agricultural future - The Yorkshire Post says

For many years, retired farmer Bernard Blashill’s collection of hundreds of items provided a fascinating glimpse into Yorkshire’s agricultural heritage as he hosted a popular annual heritage weekend in the East Yorkshire village of Welwick which drew hundreds of visitors each year.

Now, almost a decade after his death, everything from threshing machines to gypsy caravans, tools and tractors will be going under the hammer at an auction this week.

With his wife Mary, Mr Blashill raised tens of thousands of pounds over more than 20 years for local charities and it is expected that thousands more will be raised from the auction of items.

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Threshing machines used in the 1940s are among the things up for sale, along with a 150-year-old belt-driven Clayton & Shuttleworth Choppy Cutter which chopped barley and oat straw for animal feed.

With the farming industry at a crossroads and the Government’s Brexit-related Agriculture Bill likely to remain at a standstill until a new Prime Minister is chosen, the auction is a reminder of how farming shaped Yorkshire life – and the importance of it continuing to do so for generations to come.