A popular feature of the Sunday entertainment at New Deer Show these days is the gathering of vintage and classic machinery creating one of the best line ups of period kit to be seen anywhere.
The special display section in particular is very popular and helps swell the main ring parade to bursting point.
Mostly drawn from the local area, it is the fruition of some deep thinking and strong persuading by Jim Muir, Peter Johnston, Scot Gibson and David Hay.
Following on from the successful John Deere 175th Anniversary display on 2012 and the Claas Centenary last year the team used the Homecoming theme as their basis this year with a display entitled No Longer Made in Scotland.
What they assembled was a remarkable line up of over 100 pieces of machinery manufactured in Scotland over the years.
Machines ranged from the horse-drawn period to virtually the present day as some local manufacturers put their current wares on show alongside the equipment from many famous names no longer in existence.
Some of the names included many famous firms throughout Scotland such as Cruickshank of Denny, Wallace of Glasgow, Henderson of Kelso, Boswells of Blairgowrie, Begg of Dalry, Reekie of Arbroath and Newlands of Linlithgow.
However there was also a large contingent of locally made machines highlighting the heritage of agricultural engineering millwrighting that the area was famed for.
Sellar of Huntly ploughs and Hays Harrows were joined by a large line of Fraser trailers and muck spreaders.
Other trailer makers included Adams of Old Deer and Grant of Ythanbank. Another plough was made by Ogg of Muchalls who were more famous for their spring loaded drill ploughs.
Reid of Forres also manufactured spring loaded drill ploughs and two examples of theirs were on show.
Turnip machinery was an important element in the area and several items were line up including a Bon Accord turnip slicer.
Grays of Fetterangus are long remembered for ballast rollers, buck rakes and loaders but on show was an unusual potato spinner and the first ever production model of their innovative Tubeliner bale wrapper.
Some rarer pieces include a Banff Foundry grass seed barrow, a McDonald of Portsoy reaper, an Ecorider diesel bike built in the Highlands and a Consolidated Pneumatics of Fraserburgh portable compressor driven by a Ruston Hornsby engine. Another engine was an Allan of Aberdeen example from a company who also built threshing mills.
Aberdeenshire was an epicentre for Scottish threshing mill building and a Garvie travelling mill was parked close to an Edmond of Udny barn mill and from slightly furtherafield a Wright of Portsoy version.
Replacing the mills were combine harvesters and three Kilmarnock built Massey’s were present with 415, 515 and 525 models up and running in the parade.
Other Massey built machines on site included the second last Massey Harris tractor ever to be built in the UK, a 745 S with a superb local pedigree.
More modern tractors featured a line of poppy red Nuffield tractors built at Bathgate during the 1960s and some of the following models of Leyland tractors built at the same factory including the only narrow version of the 154 sold new in Britain.
Despite wet weather the show was superb and highlighted the rich legacy of farm equipment manufactured that the country has and the north east in particular. Next year the team are looking to recreate a bit of local machinery dealer history, so as they say stay tuned.