SOUTH Africa was the setting for the resurrection of the proud naval tradition of field gun competition last month, as a 25-strong team including a Horrabridge man pulled a large field gun up 400ft to the summit of a virtually inaccessible mountain.

Tony Fennell, a former naval engineer from Horrabridge, was one of the team from Portsmouth Field Gun Association, who took part in the re-enactment at the scene of a Boer War skirmish more than a century ago.

The field gun competition originally began in honour of the part British sailors played in a battle at Swartkop Hill at Vaalkranz, in South Africa.

Mr Fennell said the field gun challenge was made even more gruelling by the heat in South Africa.

?It was hard. The temperature was high. We left the English winter and when we arrived in South Africa it was 41C and the next day it went up to 43C,? he said.

Mr Fennell said the team had one day training before the big day of the field gun challenge on Sunday February 9, which allowed them to stop and start and survey the route.

?There was definitely an improvement on the next day, we were able to climb the hill faster,? he said.

Mr Fennell said there was great interest in the South African media about the field gun re-enactment and the Portsmouth team had already accepted an invitation to return again next year.

Mr Fennell said the people in South Africa loved the spectacle of watching the field guns and were very friendly. South Africa has assembled its own field gun team, which took part in the commemoration challenge.

Mr Fennell said one of the most memorable parts of the trip was when the team visited a South African school, in one of the country?s poorest areas.

?The children were wonderful. The whole school came out and performed and sang songs with the most beautiful harmonies.?

On their second week in South Africa, the team were also taken on a tour of many of the Boer War battlefield sites.

Mr Fennell said as well as many civic dignitaries from South Africa attending the event, the Mayor of Portsmouth also made the trip to view the field gun competition from the top of the hill and said she wanted to return next year for the 105th anniversary of the Battle of Vaalkranz.

On February 5-7, 1899, sailors from HMS Philomel and HMS Tartar spent two nights drawing heavy guns to the foot of Swartkop Hill.

The guns then had to be dragged 400ft up the hill, much of which was at a 40 degree angle and in inhospitable conditions.