Village plough tradition to return after a hundred years

MORRIS men in Pampisford will lead the revival of an age-old tradition when they parade a plough through the village.

On Monday January 16, the Milton Morris Men, who practice in Pampisford Village Hall, will pull the plough from the Church Lane recreation ground to Brewery Road recreation ground, before heading to The Chequers pub.

The ceremony, dubbed the Pampisford Plough Tradition, has not been carried out in the village for almost a century.

It apparently dates back to a very cold and harsh winter some time in the nineteenth century. The severe conditions had rendered the ground unworkable and the village was struggling for food.

Allegedly, in the second week in January, the weather changed sufficiently for the ground to be worked and the fields in Pampisford were ploughed on January 12.

There was such relief that it was decided that there should be a village festival each year to mark the end of the winter weather, held on the Monday closest to January 12.

The tradition was carried out each year, with a procession of workers dragging the plough through the village and collecting money from the residents.

The Pampisford Plough Tradition ceased in the early twentieth century, possibly due to the outbreak of the First World War.

The recreation of the tradition will begin at 7.30pm and the plough-pullers should reach The Chequers about an hour later.

True to the tradition, there will be a collection, with all funds raised going towards the upkeep of Pampisford Village Hall.