The Melplash Agricultural Society is pleased to announce that our President for 2026 is Peter Hardwill.  Peter has lived in the village of Blackdown, in the Parish of Broadwindsor, all his life.  He has lived in three different houses, from the one he lives in now he can see the farm and the other two houses!

Peter is the founder of PH Hardwill Limited which he established in 1966.  At that time, he was working with his father on the family dairy farm.  Growing up on Hurst Farm, Peter was always kept occupied with jobs on the farm.   He remembers with fondness being allowed and able to drive a tractor at the age of 8!  It was here that his love for engineering and construction began.

Peter attended the local Marshwood Primary School and after passing his 11 plus he went on to Beaminster Grammar School, favoured by his parents as Beaminster was the only local grammar school that did an O level in Agriculture.  Recognising his interest in engineering, he was given the opportunity whilst studying for his O levels to join the metalwork and carpentry classes being provided by Beaminster Secondary Modern.  This led him to start collecting tools and building connections with the trade businesses in the town who were only too happy to help and advise him with electrical and similar projects he was undertaking on the farm.

Peter left school to work with his father on the family farm.  He was encouraged by two friends who shared his interest in engineering to join Crewkerne Young Farmers and to enrol on an engineering course at Yeovil College.  After learning welding from John Poole at Beaminster, he began taking on more ambitious projects on the farm including building timber framed barns using old telegraph poles and building his own digger!  It did not take long before his skills and achievements started to be noticed by other farmers in the area and other work began to come in.  His growing reputation led him to start his own company and expand into steel-framed buildings following an introduction to the landlord of the Fisherman’s Arms pub in Bridport who was a structural engineer qualified to meet Ministry of Agriculture or Local Authority requirements.  In 1985 the family moved from dairy to beef farming which required less of Peter’s time;  Following his father’s death in 1995, the farm was rented to their neighbour Childhay Farming.

Alongside running a successful business, Peter has always stayed abreast of industry trends and business matters.  He greatly appreciated the business skills training he received from West Dorset Training—a programme founded by Commander Streatfeild to deliver skills development for those in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry—when he first started his business.  Peter was proud to serve on the Board of Dorset Training, an amalgamation of West Dorset Training and other similar schemes in Dorset, for some 60 years, until its 2004 merger with Newlands Training.  As a long-standing member of Crewkerne Young Farmers, he took on numerous responsibilities at both local and county levels, including a year as Somerset YFC President in 2000.  Additionally, Peter was an active member of the Crewkerne Rotary Club, holding various offices focused on youth-related community work.  In 2006/7 he became Rotary District Governor of District 1200 covering Somerset and part of West Dorset and West Wiltshire.

P H Hardwill Ltd is now in its 60th year and has been managed by Peter’s sons, Philip and Michael, since Peter’s retirement at the age of 70.  The company will have a trade stand at this year’s Melplash Show on August 27th to mark its 60th anniversary.

Peter commented, ‘I feel extremely proud to be the President of the Melplash Agricultural Society this year and supporting our local farming community.  Having attended the Melplash Show many times I appreciate the role it plays in promoting local agriculture and educating the public about farming, livestock and food production.  Attending the Show as President is going to be a momentous day for me and my partner Ann.

I am looking forward to gaining a deeper insight into how the Society operates and working with the many dedicated volunteers – the Board of Directors, the section chairman and their helpers -who make the Society and Melplash Show the success it is.  It is going to be a privilege to accompany the stewards and the judges around the Farms and Gardens in the pre-show competitions, and helping where I can with the Discover Farming programme which is making substantial progress improving children’s understanding of where their food comes from and how it is produced, while also effectively informing older students about the career opportunities within the sector.  The next challenge in securing the Society’s future is to encourage more young people to volunteer and become actively involved in the Society’s various committees  – a challenge I hope to be able to contribute to during my time as President.’