In what seems like the mere blink of an eye, the seasons have turned and we are back into hedge-laying season once again. This year, I have been determined to get more practice in before the National competition at the end of October. First opportunity was the hedge-laying competition at the West Grinstead ploughing match that was held on the 15th September.

The weather was glorious and about 13 of us gathered for the draw at 08:15 hrs. The hedge itself was a good conservation mix of hawthorn, blackthorn, spindle, field maple and hazel, but the quality was very variable indeed. I drew cant number 2, which at first glance didn’t look too bad, but on closer inspection turned out to be a cant of two halves; half good and half bad! Many of my fellow cutters didn’t fair much better either and it seemed that everyone had either deadwood or gaps or both in their cants to some extent or another. But, that’s the way it goes sometimes – it really is the luck of the draw.

On this occasion, we only had 4 hours to lay our sections as opposed to the usual 5. As it happens, this wasn’t an issue and we all finished comfortably in time. I was quite happy with my work, despite the first 2 metres of my cant being dead blackthorn that was only upright due to the dense ivy that was supporting it.

Competition was tough as I was up against some very experienced cutters including a former National Supreme Champion! Needless to say I didn’t expect to be challenging for any of the top places – it was the practice that I was after, as well as giving a good account of myself. At the time of writing, I still haven’t seen the complete score sheet, though I do know that I didn’t finish in the top half.

When all said and done, I think all the cutters did a superb job given the poor quality of the hedge to begin with. We had a superb day in glorious weather and the banter with the other guys was ‘top drawer’ as always.  So, it’s onward and upward to the next competition on the 6th October. I’m really looking forward to it!