A CROWD of 14,000 people helped machinery giant, John Deere, celebrate its 50th anniversary of being established in the UK with a gala weekend at its Langar home, in Notts, last week.

The JD50 festivities, which included activities and entertainment for the whole family, also helped raise thousands of pounds for charity.

But the star event was the machinery parades and working field demonstrations of tractors, ploughs and combines of all ages, making it the largest gathering of John Deere heritage equipment outside the US.

More than 200 John Deere vintage, classic and modern tractors and other heritage machines, spanning 100 years of production, were on display, including a John Deere bicycle.

Some of the heritage tractor highlights included:

• A 1916 Overtime Model R belonging to Malcolm Robinson, Lincolnshire, which was imported from the US during the First World War to aid the war effort.

• A 1919 Waterloo Boy Model N belonging to Harry Williams, Flintshire, the first tractor produced by John Deere in the US after it bought the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company in Iowa.

• A 1924 Model D belonging to John Deere dealer Frank Sutton, Monmouthshire, which was the oldest tractor in Europe bearing the John Deere name.

• A 1943 Model BN belonging to Brian Wright, Notts, which may be the oldest working John Deere tractor in the UK and is still used to hoe sugar beet every spring.

There were 11 examples of the iconic 4020 tractor that dates back to 1966, the year John Deere started trading from its current premises at Langar. The company's own restored model, nicknamed BEV, was used as a backdrop in a special display where visitors could have their photo taken.

Another tractor of note was the 5010 that was exhibited for the first time in the UK by Lundell (Gt Britain) at the 1962 Royal Smithfield Show, in London. Owner David Leech, co-organiser of the JD50 heritage event along with his brother (and John Deere Limited retiree) Peter Leech, also owns the first 5020 tractor imported into the UK from the US in 1965.

A 1996 6400 tractor from the pioneering 6000 Series range was driven to the event by contractor Michael Tucker from Cullompton, in Devon, a round trip of almost 450 miles. This machine has recorded 48,000 hours, equivalent to working 6.5 hours a day every day, 365 days a year, for 20 years, or getting on for 1.5m miles at 30mph.

The 'Judges' Choice' award went to Chris Jubb for his 1966 4020 SynchroRange tractor owned by his father, John Jubb, who bought it for their farming and contracting business in 1967.