DEVON Young Farmers will be burying a time capsule tomorrow (Saturday) to commemorate the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs’ 80th anniversary.

The capsule is to be buried at the site of the first Young Farmers’ Club in Hemyock in a ceremony at 2pm when former members of the NFYFC, the largest rural youth organisation in the UK, will be joined by local dignitaries and residents.

Among the guests will be the chairman of Mid Devon District Council, John Berry, and Hemyock Parish Council chair Heather Stallard, and Cllr Ray Radford will also be attending on behalf of Neil Parish MP.

Also among the guests will be 84-year-old Brian Clist, a former club chairman from 1951 who lives at Mountshayne Farm in the Culm Valley.

Brian’s farm has been in the family 300 years, and his father was the first vice-chairman of Hemyock YFC and attended the first calf sale on the grounds near where the time capsule will be buried.

His eldest son was also vice-chairman of Culm Valley YFC in the 1970s.

Brian said: “I’m delighted that Young Farmers’ Clubs are still going strong, and I feel proud to know that my family were members of one of the longest running clubs in England and Wales.

“I can remember attending the sales back in the 1950s, learning traditional skills, such as rope making and stock judging.

“We also enjoyed the dances.”

The ceremony is timely as it follows Culm Valley YFC’s Show and Sale on April 11 – an event the club has hosted since Hemyock YFC was set up in 1921.

Anyone interested in finding out more can email cath.sykes@nfyfc. org.uk