The beginning of February saw the annual
hedgelaying competition at Wimpole. Now into our fifth year and with many
familiar faces, the group trekked out to the competition site on the far side
of the Wimpole Estate. Well, actually we all drove down in various vehicles
rather than walked as it would have taken too long to get there otherwise (yes,
it’s that far!).
For those interested
in hedgelaying in previous years, Simon has Video clips up on the sister blog
at: https://sadeik.wordpress.com/blog/competitions-at-wimpole/hedgelaying.
The only year missing is the first in 2009, which wasn’t taken unfortunately
but the rest are there including this years so enjoy!
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| Layed, staked and binded |
Moving
on, our old colleague Boz joined us for the day and took part in the
competition as well as helping to collect various tools. This obviously included
some left over birthday cake! I won’t say whose, wink, wink.
Soon, the vehicles arrived on location and
everyone got out onto a windy field ready for the struggle ahead. The sun was
shining down as everyone busied themselves gearing up and preparing for the
long road of competition hedgelaying. It wasn’t long before Simon was shouting
and gathering all before him, ready for the drawing of lots. A bit of confusion
ensued as people weren’t sure which style of hedge they were laying and general
‘not paying attention’ you get at most meets.
Each competitor drew
a number out of a hat (Simon’s pocket in reality – no innuendo’s thanks Paul!) that corresponded
to a length of the hedge. With their chosen style it was each
participant’s task to lay their stretch of eight metres, stake it up and bind
the top with withies.
Not being one of the competitors myself and
mainly going along to lend a hand, I ended up being camera man. Justin was also
there as official paparazzi photographer so I think we covered the event quite
well. A lot of the time I was walking up and down, observing and taking an interest
in how different people approached the laying of the hedge.
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| You call that a knife? |
You
might think that a group of people on a gusty day chopping into a hedge might
seem a bit dull and samey but every person has their own individual way of
tackling the problem and getting the job done. Even though the majority used
chainsaws, there were a handful of personages doing it by hand with just an
axe, loppers and saw! As you can see by the size of the hedge and the tools used (photo to the right) this can seem quite daunting! Having said that even the guys (and gals) with chainsaws
had trouble on occasions there were some monster pieces of hedge to get down.
At set intervals we
had parts of the hedge that were marked to leave as trees after the laying had
been done. Although I did notice that a couple of people had chopped through
them! You would have thought they would have noticed the big strip of hazard
tape wrapped round the trunk, but never mind, it’s all part of the hedge now!
Incidentally the two different styles used
are the Midlands and South of England. The Points system used to judge these
two styles can be seen on the same link above as the videos.
Speaking to Boz on the day, apparently the
SoE is a bit easier to lay than the Midlands but Midland style is better for
teaching because it is easier to see the hedge and pleachers after it has been
sided up.
After the laying usually comes the staking,
with which I leant a hand to Paul and Debbie every now and then. One of the
tricky parts of the competition is due to the adjacent competitor laying their
own bit of hedge if you (or they) are laying slower. If you’ve done your section
and you still have upright plants next door than it’s either drop it to the
side and hope you can lift it back after, or wait!
It all turns out good in the end though as
everyone kinda helps each other so there are ways around and a helping hand if
you need it.
Although I haven’t done any hedgelaying
myself, I’m used to the staking and binding having done it at Wimpole
previously so I was able to assist those that needed it (i.e. Paul and Debs
again!). I have to say I enjoy doing the bindings the most when it comes to
hedgelaying though we only tend to bind the top of the hedge when it’s more
likely to be seen by the general public. A word of warning though, when binding
make sure those nearby are aware as it’s very easy to whip them with the end of
the binders as you weave them in and out!
Overall a good time was had by all. There
were the winners and the not quite winners but everyone enjoyed themselves,
especially with the venison stew that was provided by Simon once we all got
back to the Home Farm. Just what a group of hedgelayers need after a hard days
work; a hot spud, some of Simon’s homemade bread using heritage wheat we grow
on the Estate and a steaming bowl of deer casserole!
To top it all off our
Debbie won third prize as well! Don’t worry we won’t tell about getting help
from the judge when it came to the bindings!
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| A job well done |
For the other winners and runner-ups, jump
over to the sister blog and to find another account of the hedgelaying
competition. Don’t forget to check out those videos either!
Photographs courtesy of https://sadeik.wordpress.com as I
haven’t received any for myself yet!
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