Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2013 | Page 69
COUNTRY LIFE
Hedgela ying
competition
This year’s Isle of Wight Hedgelaying Competition is being
held at Bathingborne Farm, on Saturday, February 23 by kind
permission of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Smith.
Competitors will be battling it out in three categories,
Open, Novice and Team. With extra prizes for; ‘best laid
hedge using only hand tools’ and the ‘Peter Tunks Prize’
(Former Supreme National Champion), for straightest stakes.
The pressure will be on Tom Murphy, who successfully
defended his title in the ‘Open’ section last year, to do so
again. Judges Richard Grogan, Countryside Officer for the
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, and Alan Ashby
from Kent and a current National Champion, will have their
work cut out deciding who will be this year’s winner.
The day offers a great opportunity for spectators to
witness a country craft at first hand, getting up close and
speaking with the competitors, who are only too pleased to
pass on their knowledge.
The event is supported by Landscape Therapy, Hampshire
and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, The ANOB Project and the
West Wight Landscape Partnership.
Warm clothing and stout boots are the order of the day, as
it can get very cold and heavy under foot. Help is on hand in
the marquee with hot drinks and food being available.
For more information about the day, entering as a
competitor or to support this non-profit making event
through sponsorship, please contact Tony Ridd, 760011 or
email [email protected] or check out the website
at www.iwhg.org
Back to nature
Because of the rain it seems that we have
spent more days over the last few months
cleaning up the yard, than we have
productively working!
Believe it or not, the snow was a
welcome relief; we missed a day cutting in
the woods, because it wasn’t really safe,
but at least it wasn’t raining and squelchy
underfoot.
Our window of work is limited so
this time of year we have to plough
on. We are coping with most things,
juggling jobs as the weather suits, like
A cou ntry ma n's dia ry
planting hedgerows and trees and little
‘landscapey’ things on the drier days.
A lot of our winter is spent managing
people’s woodlands, coppicing and
felling trees as part of a structured plan
to re-generate them. The locations are
always wonderful, many remote and with
access only being possible on foot or
quad bike.
The work sites can often take 10 minutes
or more just to get to during the winter
months. As idyllic as it sounds, it can
become a bit much when constantly
raining. Everything is damp all day long,
and you don’t get much peace sitting
under a flapping tarpaulin eating lunch or
sharpening the chainsaw when it’s windy
and wet.
However, this winter we have splashed
out on a ‘nammit trailer’, which can be
used for lots of other things too. We
raised the roof to allow us to sit inside
and have been enjoying its benefits over
the last few weeks. Not that you were, but
there’s now no need to feel too sorry for
us!
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