In February 2025 I joined over 50 other cutters for the annual South of England regional hedgelaying championships, held once again on the Norfolk Estate at Arundel. I was cutting in the Champions Class (equivalent to the Open Class at the Nationals) and the draw for cants had already taken place a week earlier.

When I saw my cant for the first time my heart sank. Many of the hedges on the Estate have previously been coppiced on one side. This was done to try and promote early, dense regrowth to provide cover for the grey partridges. However, this technique is not always successful and can lead to very thin hedgerows where the un-coppiced side dominates and restricts the regrowth on the other side. This hedgerow was no exception, and my cant in particular was very thin as can be seen above. The Estate also cuts small gaps every 50 metres or so to allow beaters through during the shooting season, and guess what, there was one in my section too!

But, that’s the luck of the draw and you just have to go with it. I did the best that I could with what I had to work with, which wasn’t much! In fact, I don’t think I have ever finished any hedge with such a small brash (waste) pile.

One technique to make the hedge look more dense is to stuff off-cuts back into the laid hedge. I don’t subscribe to this personally, especially in a competition, because there is no skill involved. Not only that, the off-cuts start to die off within a few days and stick out like a sore thumb. However, I did put a few bits back in on this occasion, purely because my hedge was so thin to begin with and I wanted it to look respectable.

I was happy with my stake line and my cutting was pretty good, so I consoled myself with the fact that I had done the best with what was in front of me, and, as I always say, I’m a hedgelayer, not a magician!

As it happened, when the results were announced I took third place! I’d definitely have taken that at the start. More than anything else though, it was a great day out amongst lovely people and in a real festival atmosphere. There were lots of spectators and a real buzz for hedgelaying, and it was all topped off with a lovely meal and drinks at a nearby hostelry. It doesn’t get much better than that. Here’s to next season!