On 21st February around 50 cutters assembled on the Norfolk Estate for the annual South of England Regional Hedgelaying Competition. The competition was divided into 5 classes ranging from Novice to Open, or ‘Champions’ class as it is known in this instance.

I was competing in the Champions Class and had drawn Cant number 4. At this particular competition a promotion / relegation system is run in the top two classes; The winner of the Senior Class gets promoted to the Champions Class and whoever comes last in the Champions Class gets relegated back into the Senior Class. Looking at the list of fellow competitors in my class I knew that I had my work cut out. Everyone was capable of winning on the day and there were also two former National Supreme Champions competing!

The stakes and binders for the competition had been supplied by two local coppice workers and were of first class quality; there could be no complaints on that front.

The hedge was very consistent and looked very straightforward at first glance. However, there was quite a lot of bramble in it, and in places there was also quite a bit of ‘Old Man’s Beard’ (Wild Clematis). Coupled with that, many of the stems had thrown out lateral branches which tangled everything together, so it was much more time consuming to lay than appearances initially suggested.

I got stuck in straight away after the starting signal and made a solid start. It soon became apparent thought that it would not be a straightforward hedge and I found it very time consuming to separate each stem from its neighbour. Another issue was that all the stems on the near side had been coppiced previously, so there was a lot of work sorting those out too.

I battled on and finished with one minute to spare! I was not the only one in that regard – many of my fellow competitors only just finished in time and some in the lower classes ran out of time altogether. It was a tough day out for all.

On completion I was happy with my cutting which was consistent and accurate. My stake line was pretty good with only a slight deviation in it, and my binding was good and level. The only negative was that my hedge was a little thin in places where I had probably cut a bit too much out whilst untangling everything. However, in the event I placed 5th, matching my result in the Nationals. I was pleased to have beaten some notable competitors, and I also know where I can improve so it’s onwards and upwards to next time!

I must make a special mention of my close friend and mentor Paul Matthews who produced another superb hedge to comfortably win the Champions Class. Simply outstanding, and a very worthy champion.

Also, my congratulations to another friend, Mike Mason. Mike is a journeyman hedgelayer who is very steady and consistent and this year he finally won the Senior Class. I am really pleased for him and I look forward to competing against him next year in the Champions Class.