New lease of life
The first time we drove from Kyrenia to the Karpaz peninsula in the northern part of Cyprus, it took us almost five hours. That was a little more than 10 years ago, when the road was narrow and broken, and way-marking indistinct.
If it hadn’t been for the help of a Karpazian farmer, we would have turned back – but were able to continue on and in doing so became fascinated by the number of classic Massey Ferguson tractors still working there, many of them 100 Series models.
When the former British protectorate of Cyprus was partitioned in the 1970s, this beautiful island was effectively divided in two. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is further divided by the truly spectacular Besparmak mountain range (known locally as the ‘Five Finger Mountains’) and has developed a reputation for producing quality cereals, fruit, vegetables and salad crops.
More than half of these, together with animal products (lamb, goat, cattle and poultry) are routinely shipped back to Turkey, some also exported to European countries, including Britain. Cyprus potatoes are perhaps the best known.
The border between the TRNC and the Republic of Cyprus is a meandering line and a de-militarised zone continues to bisect the old capital city of Nicosia and the key port of
