The 29th October saw around 100 hedgelayers from across the Country descend upon Wallingford, Oxfordshire for the 43rd National Hedgelaying Championship. I was competing in the South of England Intermediate class once again and was determined to win top spot, having missed out by only 2 points in 2021. I was feeling confident after my victory in the South of England competition last season, plus I had had plenty of practice in the run up to the Nationals this season.

The weather was perfect for hedgelaying: dry, cool, and not too breezy. First glance at the cant that I had been allocated was promising; it was very consistent and a decent height. Everything seemed to be looking favourable.

The hooter sounded at 09:00 hrs. and we all made a start. As usual, we had five hours to lay 8 metres of hedge from start to finish, so there was no time to waste. I quickly ‘broke in’ to my cant and it wasn’t long before I had the first few stems down.

My cant consisted of a mixture of hawthorn and Wayfaring Tree, which is one of our native Viburnums. A few of the hawthorn stems were chunky, but nothing to be concerned about and I made good progress. By 12:00 hrs. I had laid the final stem and moved on to the staking and binding.

With the stakes and binders in place, and everything in line and level, it was time to drive the stakes in fully…..

……..Before applying the finishing touches. The judge was also keeping an eagle eye on our work.

I finished comfortably within the allotted 5hrs and used the remaining time to make sure everything was trimmed up neatly.

I was very happy with my finished hedge, but the competition was tough and there were some good looking finished hedges in the class so I had no idea if I had done enough to take the win. We headed to the marquee and let the judges get on with their work.

As an added bonus, Countryfile were in attendance filming for a future programme and John Craven was invited to present some of the trophies. The actor Jeremy Irons was also present and he too was invited to award some of the prizes.

I had a long and slightly nervous wait while the winners in the Midland and Welsh classes were announced, then it was time for the South of England classes….

…….where I was announced the winner of my class!

I was absolutely thrilled. Winning the Intermediate Class has been a top objective of mine for this season, and now I have achieved it. But the winning didn’t stop there…..

After the winners in each of the classes had been announced, it was time for the extra prizes and to my great delight I was awarded the Best Overall Intermediate Cutter! It really was a dream come true.

Just to put the ‘icing on the cake’ my friend and mentor Paul Matthews won the South of England Open class as well, so we pretty much cleaned up.

So, a truly remarkable and memorable day and hopefully the start of a long run of wins. Next competition for me will be the South of England championships in February 2023 followed a week later by the Isle of Wight championships.

Hedgelaying has brought me a great deal of pleasure over the years and I feel privileged to be able to practice as well as to pass on the skills of this ancient craft. I must also take this opportunity to thank my lovely wife, Becci, for all her support and belief, not to mention patience with me over the years.