BRITAIN'S entry in the next world ploughing championships honed up his skills when he competed in the Leominster Agricultural Improvement Society ploughing match at Endale on Sunday.

With conditions ideal and on a beautiful site just one mile north of the town, a total of 89 ploughmen from all parts of the country competed.

And spectators, too, came from a wide area. Set just off the A49, many visitors dropped in to see the ploughing, including one couple from Australia, who were passing by while on holiday in the area.

Indeed, the site made available by Paske Brothers of Endale was so well suited to competition that society chairman, Alan Williams, afterwards said it had been described as a mini national championships.

Top honours on the day went to Michael Watkins, a ploughman born at Hamnish, just two miles away from the Endale ground, but who now runs a agricultural business near Rotherham.

His business involves his family's own land and overseeing some 3,000 acres of other ground.

John Hill, of Yorkshire, who will be representing Britain in the world championships at Dublin later this month also competed. He led the world-style class ahead of Nigel Vickers, of Shropshire, and Elwyn Davies, of Ledbury.

Results: World style: 1 John Hill, Yorkshire, 2 Nigel Vickers, Whitchurch, 3 Elwyn Davies, Ledbury; under-26: 1 Phillip Thomson, Ross on Wye, 2 Dan Mallard, Leominster and Daniel Bradley, Tenbury Wells (tied); high cut: 1 Robert Irvine, Cornwall, 2 Derek Needam, Norfolk, 3 Vernon Davies, Sennybridge; vintage trailer: 1 Mike Watkins, Yorkshire, 2 Mike Price, Bucknell, 3 Barry Evans, Kington; hydraulic vintage: 1 Richard Ingram, Warwickshire, 2 Tony Bradley, Raglan, 3 Norman Prosser, Coleford; novice vintage: 1 Ted Richards, Hereford, 2 Peter Williams, Shrewsbury, 3 William Fletcher, Cleobury Mortimer; horse ploughing: 1 Roger Smith, Crickhowell; reversible commercial: 1 Robert Harris, Orleton, 2 Gareth Jenkins, Leominster; garden walk behind: 1 David Pryce, Rhosgoch, 2 Mike Powell, Hereford, 3 David Williams, Coventry; ride-on: I George Allen, Bromyard, 2 Barry Forster, Banbury, 3 John Pursey, Hereford; classic: 1 Micheal Holloway, Montgomeryshire, 2 Phil Meek, Monmouthshire, 3 David Auckland, Huddersfield; beginners; 1 Mathew Fletcher, Cleobury Mortimer; Ferguson tractor and plough: 1 Keith Williams, Kings Caple, 2 Jeff Taylor, Tewkesbury, 3 Iain Ferguson, Harewood End.

Special awards: Best vintage hydraulic, Richard Ingram; vintage from all classes, Michael Watkins; overall champion, Michael Watkins; best work under 18 yrs, Daniel Bradley