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! www.visitislandlife.com 69