New member Chris Lockwood won the runner-up prize in the Guild’s new entrant training scheme in 2008 and since then has been developing a career that involves two of his passions – farm tractors and photography.
“I grew up around tractors and arable farming, often visiting my Grandfather’s Norfolk farm,” says Chris. “They have always been my main interest for as long as I can remember and I also have an interest in photography, so it made sense to combine the two.”
To pursue a farming-related career, he completed a National Diploma in Agriculture course to distinction level at Otley College, Ipswich in Suffolk and also started an online gallery of farm machinery photographs.
“It now includes more than 85,000 images and has become a very popular site with a large following,” he says. “Although it’s predominantly a hobby, it’s a useful resource and one that I still update.”
During his time at college, Chris submitted the first of many farm machinery sale reports to Classic Tractor magazine, edited by fellow Guild member Rory Day, and attended the Guild’s training course, which he describes as extremely helpful.
He also had his first book published by another Guild member Roger Smith of Old Pond Publishing, Ipswich. Know Your Tractors, which pictures a sample of the most popular tractors used on British farms, has since been followed by Know Your Combines and four DVDs for Old Pond, covering combines, rubber-track crawler tractors and maize silage harvesting operations.
“I’ve researched, filmed, scripted and edited these DVDs and have been editing a two-part series Beet Harvesters in Britain, as well as filming for four more titles,” says Chris. “I’m still a regular contributor of articles to Classic Tractor, covering tractor fleet profiles, tractor comparisons and other feature topics, as well as providing sale reports.”
Thanks to his practical abilities, Chris also helps local farmers and his Uncle when not writing or filming, which helps maintain an up-to-date practical understanding of farming, and enjoys visiting and photographing farms elsewhere in Europe.
“I have a special interest in East European tractors and farm machinery, and currently have a small collection of four such tractors,” he adds.
