On the last weekend of October it was time once again for the National Hedge-laying Championships, this time at Pewsey in Wiltshire. The Nationals are a real festival of hedge-laying with 10 different regional styles on display as well as some of the finest cutters in the Country demonstrating their skills.

I was competing in the South of England Intermediate class once again and was determined to improve on my third placing in 2018. As usual, I was up against some tough competition, so I knew that I had to perform well to finish in the top three.

The hedge was fairly consistent, but there were some big stems to contend with along the way. The biggest factor however, was the weather. We had all been watching the forecast, which was for steady rain and high winds. Lovely – not!

In the event, the forecast was spot on, and if anything the rain got steadily worse as the competition wore on. Our section was near the top of a slope, so we were totally exposed and the wind played havoc with our pleachers as we tried to get them over under control. I had to ask the steward for assistance as I battled with one particular stem, and even with two of us it still got away from me.

Undeterred, I battled on and with an hour and fifteen minutes to go, I had my section down. I was also soaked to the skin, but at least I wasn’t feeling the cold due to the extreme exercise!

I cracked on with the staking and binding and very soon I was applying the finishing touches to my hedge. The weather was so bad by this stage that I kept my chainsaw helmet on to keep some of the rain off, even though I had finished with my saw by this stage!

I finished with around five minutes to spare and was feeling very relieved that I could finally get out of the weather. I was pleased with my hedge, but it was now time for the judges to get to work. All I could do was head to the marquee and await their results.

In the event, it was third place once again. I was gutted to have missed out on second place, but delighted with the hedge that I produced. The weather conditions were atrocious – the above pictures just don’t show how bad it was – and I am very happy to be proving my consistency. Next season I am determined that it will be my year.