THERE was blue sky and sunshine when about 60 tractors of all shapes, sizes and ages, set off from Hamsterley on Good Friday as part of a fundraising 50-mile run.
The first Hamsterley Vintage Tractor run of the season, organised by Joe Dobson and Tony Elstob, set off from the Cross Keys pub, in Hamsterley, on a route through Teesdale with the oldest agricultural workhorses leading the way.
The club regularly organises fundraising runs having raised money for a variety of organisations in recent years including organisations which support mental health and suicide awareness.
This latest event saw cash being raised for the Children’s Heart Unit Fund (CHUF), which supports children and families who receive treatment by the children’s heart unit based at the Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle.
The charity has special significance for organiser Mr Dobson.
His goddaughter and niece Olivia Wall, 5, from Cockfield, was born with a heart defect, pulmonary atresia, that causes problems with blood flow.
She underwent open heart surgery at the Freeman Hospital when she was only 18 months old and will have further operations when she is a teenager.
During her stay in hospital the family were supported by CHUF.
Mr Dobson said: “We have run these for years and we get support from all over the region and we like to choose charities that benefit people in the north east so they can see where the money is being spent.
“It is our first run of the season and we will be supporting CHUF throughout the year.”
The tractor run raised £600 for the charity.
The cavalcade of tractors headed out from Hamsterley to Woodland, Eggleston, Romaldkirk and on to Baldersdale, then Grassholme, Selset and Middleton-in-Teesdale before heading up to Coldberry and back to Hamsterley.
The tractor club plans another run, scheduled to set off from Broomhill Farm at West Auckland on July 2.
