The picturesque New England town then tripled in size on the weekend as the annual Campdraft took centre stage.

Competitors from as far away as the Northern Territory, north coast of NSW and throughout this region featured in a series of events across Saturday and Sunday.

Event secretary Penny Macintosh said the raft of numbers resulted in outstanding competition.

“To have 971 competitors for the campdraft was just fantastic,” Macintosh said.

“We had two couples down from the NT who had a great time, competitors from Kempsey and as always a  strong number of locals.

“There were representatives from Tamworth, Walcha, Quirindi, Gunnedah, Armidale, Glen Innes … it was a big weekend.”

Warm conditions greeted competitors on Saturday before a late shower took the sting out of the weather and made Sunday a little more comfortable.

Ultimate success was spread near and far.

A number of categories made the 56km trek back to Tamworth.

Amiee Jamison was successful in the Maiden grade, with Rob Leach the star of the show in the Open class.

Julie Duff proved the standout performer in the Ladies division.

Armidale’s Tom Armytage emerged as a popular winner of the Novice category and Manilla campaigner Al Sullivan beat out an impressive field of Restricted Open rivals.

The Juvenile competition was taken out by Claudia Atfield from Scone and emerging Inverell talent Logan Berkley proved the Junior victor.

Berkley, who has been competing from a young age, was a hit with the crowd on hand to watch the dazzling action.

The Campdrafting community also came together magnificently on Saturday night with a special auction staged to raise funds for Jacob Coops-Blume.

Coops-Blume broke the C5 and C6 vertebrae in a motorcross accident in April last year, and is now a quadriplegic.

Macintosh said the result of the auction would help the Coops-Blume family with expenses.

“We raised $20,335 on Saturday night, which was just a magnificent result,” she said.

“Among the auction items were service fees and a series of other little gifts, including a canvas painting, a load of firewood, bales of hay, signed guitar featuring a series of country artists and a sculpture.

“It was great to see people come together to help Jacob and his family’s cause.”

The Nundle Campdraft this year doubled as a key lead-up event to the annual National Finals in Tamworth, staged at AELEC Arena, from January 24-28.