The Farmers Mart Oct-Nov 2019 - Issue 65 | Page 20

20 NORTH MOOR FARM
OCT/NOV 2019 • farmers-mart.co.uk
GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY
North Moor Farm in Kirkheaton on the outskirts of Huddersfield has been home to the Hirstle family for some 140 years. On
a brisk, fresh afternoon in August I met up with Steven Hirstle to talk about not only the farm and his thriving agricultural
engineering and fabrication business, but even more so his charity event that was taking place on the 1st September.
FROM the bones of an idea, Steven has put
together an amazing first-time event. He
has been the primary driving force behind
it. For some time, Steven has had a desire
to give something back to the community
and the rest of the family have gladly joined
in with him to organise the event. “So, what
is it?”, I asked. “Well”, Steven said, “myself
and my brother Paul have always had an
interest in vintage tractors. We have a
selection of our own, some restored and
some to work on, including a Fordson Major
bought in 1956 that’s never left the farm(!),
an old Refold from Hull that has even
been shown at the Pickering Steam Fair,
a David Brown bought from a vineyard in
France, Massey 65, Grey Fergie 35, two John
Deere’s, a 2020 and 3500 6cyl and a fully
restored David Brown 885, so what better
than to hold a tractor fest!”
Well Huddersfield is the birthplace of
David Brown after all. “Not doing things
by halves, then”, I said. So a few months
ago, the date of the 1st of September was
set for the event to be held. I’m sure it will
be Kirkheaton’s and, I think, Huddersfield’s
first Tractor Fest. Although it will be a local
event held on one of the farm’s larger
fields, it will include parades of vintage
tractors, bands and a sound stage, vintage
fairground attractions, on-site catering and,
very important to farmers, a good drop
of ale! Steven has had a lot of help and
support from the family, not just from his
brothers, but from second wife Barbara
and, would you believe, it ex wife Margaret
and her partner Howard Thacker. Well
that’s testament to Steven’s affable nature
- he and Margaret have been divorced
for twenty-four years! There has been a
lot of support locally spreading the word,
banners going up and a lot of activity on
that all-important publicity tool nowadays,
Facebook! Well, here’s hoping it’s a great
success.
The beauty of The Farmers Mart being a
bi-monthly magazine means we can report
back on how it went later on.
As I said earlier, Steven has long held
the desire to give back to the community
and the two charities he has chosen are
Kirkwood Hospice and the Yorkshire Air
Ambulance – Kirkwood because, as Steven
says, “You never know what is round the
corner”, and Yorkshire Air Ambulance
because he has first-hand knowledge of
their worth. His stepson-in-law, Kieran
Callahan, had a serious motorbike accident;
hitting a patch of oil he lost control and
crashed into a tree, the bike exploding on
impact. Kieran sustained serious injuries
which meant he was airlifted to hospital
and needed pins in his arms. Kieran has
lost several friends to bike accidents,
however he himself, now 34, has made a
full recovery and has done numerous cycle
rides to raise money for charity and has
even featured on Radio Leeds and Look
North.
So before we learn about how Tractor
Fest went let’s take a look at North Moor
Farm.
Eric Townend
Farm Machinery
We sell a full range of new / used farm
machinery, tractor & machinery parts.
Proud to be working with Steven Hirstle
Jonathan 07957 363 895 / Parts 07398 161 662
www.erictownend.com