To have the eyes of a child is a beautiful thing, because magic would never fleet and the ordinary would always be extraordinary. And while the majority of us complained about the weather at the recent Ploughing Championships, one group of children was too busy admiring the beauty that burst from the rainy scene.

Regardless as to whether they had attended the agricultural event or not, the children of Peter Pan Play School, located in Barconey, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, indulged in the publicity, ensuring that they did not miss out on the chaos caused by the rainfall as day two quickly became a wash-out.

“Maybe half a dozen of our kids went to the Ploughing, and because they were in the classroom environment they were talking about it and the setting,” explains Vanessa Woodfull, who works at Peter Pan Play School.

“Then a few of the other children had seen it on the news ... so we put everything out on the table and said: ‘Show us what you saw, show us what it was like.’”

The 33 children, all aged between four and five, got together and made a masterpiece which symbolised their personal Ploughing experience. They each created a unique artpiece on the agricultural event, and then merged them into a poster, which captured the National Ploughing Championships in a truly enchanting light.

“The kids that went had a bus that had to bring them from the carpark to the ploughing, because it was so muddy that the cars were getting stuck,” explains Vanessa. “So they made a bus like the one that carried them over out of boxes and stuff like that. They were totally engaged in the whole thing.”

Vanessa admits that she is a city girl, who hails from the capital, and because the kids are extremely in tune with what is going on in the agricultural realm, they keep her on her toes.

“The amount of knowledge that they have on the subject is phenomenal. They were able to tell me what they saw, and the different tractors and the different breeds of cattle, it was incredible. I learned an awful lot from them,” says Vanessa.

“I just felt I had to share [the poster] because it blew me away. I was absolutely flabbergasted.”

Vanessa sent in the children’s phenomenal artwork on the Ploughing to Mairead Lavery, editor of Irish Country Living. Vanessa admits that without Mairead, she would struggle to keep up with the farming fanatic kids.

“I listen to Mairead on Seán Moncrieff’s show every Wednesday, because I learn so much from her, and it makes me come into school with a little bit of knowledge,” laughs Vanessa.

“Mairead is like my guru! Then I come in here and talk like I know stuff!” CL