About Ted
Like so many of the best light bulb moments, the real idea for Tractor Ted in Tractorland came from my children. When my three youngsters (Henry, William and Amelia) were toddlers, car journeys would be delayed, as we would have to stop en route if we saw tractors working in fields. The children could sit and watch them for hours. They also liked nothing better than watching a small clip of real tractors working in a field which was shown at the end of a storytime video. Again and again they would rewind to this little clip. Nothing else with real life farm action seemed to be around and so the seed of an idea formed in my mind. Not only do children love watching real life farm machines and animals but they can learn valuable lessons about caring for the countryside, where healthy food comes from and the fun of the outdoors. It seemed every parent’s dream – entertain and educate.
Putting that first idea into reality has really tested my multi-tasking abilities but by using local people and asking a trusted farming friend, David Horler to become a business partner (see his comments below), we finished our first video in 2005 which was just called ‘Tractorland’. We advertised it in ‘Farmers Weekly’ and on the back of its success, we knew it was a popular idea and so Tractor Ted was born. Now with eleven DVDs, five books, a range of clothes and toys we are running a very busy enterprise but our motto still remains – ‘Real life fact and fun’ and that applies to the way we run the Company as well as our products. We like to think we are as real and grounded as our films. Wherever possible we use local people and businesses to make our products, from the group who sing our songs, the cameramen who shoot our footage to the team who make our books and the staff who deal with your purchases. Tractor Ted really is a very grassroots company and we enjoy nothing better than working with our fans to stay that way.
Hello, David Horler here, living the ‘Tractor Ted’ lifestyle – farming in the Somerset downs and capturing the events for our Tractor Ted enterprise. From converted stables and barns on the farm, Tractor Ted books, films and toys are made, stored and sent to customers all over the World.
The Tractor Ted enterprise is the realisation of a lifelong ambition to get people in touch with the very heart of where we make so much wonderful food – on our UK farms. Apart from my families own organic arable and beef farm here at Highchurch, many of my farming colleagues have been involved with Tractor Ted filming. All the farms, people and animals you see in the films and books belong to real people doing the real work of raising first class, British food, which is why Tractor Ted is a keen sponsor of Open Farm Sunday. Look out for a farm near you to visit and see so much of the Tractor Ted story in action. Maybe you’ll meet Tractor Ted there?