Isle of Man Young Farmers Christmas tractor runs once again proved a bit hit over the weekend.

’It was just amazing to see how many people came out and how excited they were, especially the kids. It was really overwhelming,’ says Bryony Kneale, secretary of the Young Farmers’ Federation.

The event seems to get bigger and better every year and this year there was not only one run but two.

The first, on Friday evening, saw 30 tractors setting off from King William’s College and taking a tour around the south of the island for the first time.

On Saturday, 50 tractors took part in the now traditional run around the north of the island.

They left St John’s and went through Peel then on to the TT course and up to Ramsey before returning through Laxey and Onchan and finishing at Rebecca House.

The tractors were a wonderful sight, all of them covered in hundreds of Christmas lights. One of them was towing a very large sleigh with a waving Father Christmas on board.

The runs were raising money for Rebecca House and Isle of Play. By Sunday afternoon the runs’ Just Giving page had smashed its target of £1,000 with a total of £2,685, and the prospect of much more to come from sponsorships and money raised in the bucket collection along the routes.

’It’s too soon for a final total but we’re definitely on the way to a good figure,’ says Bryony.

’Special thanks go to Isle of Man Constabulary, without whom the event could not have taken place. They arranged road closures and provided vehicles to "shepherd" the convoy of tractors on their journeys.

’And we couldn’t have done it without all our members, past and present, just taking part and decorating their tractors, doing bucket collections and stewarding,’ adds Bryony.

’Everyone came together as one big team and all supported each other.’