The Society makes a welcome return to RSPB Pulborough on Saturday 22 January to tame  a challenging hedge.

Part of the purpose of the day is to raise money for  charity and this year, the Committee have decided to share any monies raised equally between our usual charity, Chailey Heritage Foundation and a charity close to the heart of Phill Piddell, the Hands of Hope charity at Hawkhurst.
More details about each charity can be found at :-

Chailey Heritage Foundation 
www.chf.org.uk/

Hands of Hope 
www.hohcharity.co.uk/
​
Both charities do great work , so if you feel inclined to make a small donation please do so by making  an electronic transfer to the Society's bank account and we will pass the money on. Please indicate on the payment which charity you wish to support. If you don't show a preference we will split your donation between each charity.

The Society's bank details are :-
Sort code 20-49-76
A/C No. 90867381

​

A really great day at Burpham near Arundel was enjoyed by around 25 cutters of mixed ages and abilities, which was a fitting tribute to Phill Piddell.
The hedge was a real mixture of good bad and indifferent, which gave all a good  work out. Great to see some new faces and some more familiar ones .
After much deliberation, the judging panel lead by Mike Parrott, award the Phill Piddell trophy to Oliver Collins; well done  Oliver and to all those trainees who took part- every hedge is learning experience and the trick is to remember past mistakes to avoid making again  in the future.
Thanks to Phil, Frank and Tim , who efforts made it all happen.
Remaining events for the  rest of the  season:-

1. Charity/ Fun Day , Pulborough- 22.1.22
2. Annual competition , Alton- 20.2.22
3. President v Chairman competition, Wittersham - 12.3.22
4. Midland Day, Arundel 26.3.22

If  want to attend events 1,3 or 4 please email Frank  at fdw1709@gmail.com

Should you want to enter the competition please  fill in the attached form and email to the address on the form

Our annual competition  is on Sunday 20 February 2022 at Norton Farm Selbourne near Alton Hampshire.
It promises to be a great event with a decent  quality hawthorn hedge  to lay, some excellent David Dunk stakes and binders currently being  sourced.

After the competition , we have a sit down hot lunch and prize giving ceremony at the nearby Oakhanger Village hall.

The event is being put on in collaboration  with the Selbourne Land Partnership and South Downs National Park, so there should be plenty of interest.

So don't delay and get your entry form in now ; click on link below and save a copy onto your computer, complete it and send on to:-
thesouthofenglandhedgelayers@googlemail.com

Closing date 30 January 2022​


​

A great turn out of 29 for CD2.which must be a record number of cutters for a coppicing day , yielded 440 binders and 330 stakes, which given the overstood nature of the hazel was a brilliant result.

The day started off with a briefing from Tim and teams of 3 or 4 were then allocated areas. Peter was assigned fire making duties  and soon put his wafter into good use.

With  the coppice being worked on on a number of fronts, we soon had 5 well controlled bonfires going burning the vast amount of brush that was being produced. Experienced and novice cutters mucked in and stuck to their tasks well and collaborative working was the order of the day

Due to recent rain the ground was very muddy and the hoped for  high quantities of stakes and binders were just not there, as the landowner had in the past stopped the Society coppicing , resulting in much  overstood hazel.

Never the less all attendees enjoyed themselves , even  if some had car / van difficulties. Always good to see new  members turn  up and they were made most welcome.

Plenty of sustenance was provided with hot soup, pork pie and hot drinks , which went down well.

Many thanks to all those who turned up- may had travelled hours to get there  and some had taken a day off  from work.

Hearteningly and many thanks to Tim,some of the stakes and binders have already been transported to the site of Improver's Day on 8 January.

CD2 was another  well run event for the Society and will pay dividends in the years to come when we get some decent quantities of product out of Blunts Wood. Regrowth from previous years is exceptional.
​
Matthew Beard 
31.12.21
ps Seasons totals so far from CD1 and CD2:-
Stakes 790
Binders 980
Excellent efforts from all attendees- we had a total of 51 turn up to coppicing days in 2021

Question- what do you do when a few days before  an event the landowner tells you a  contractor has been in and flailed a hedge to death reducing it to 5 feet high ?

Answer- Frank gets on the phone and gets hold of Alec Holt at Nodes farm ,Magham Down  and brings forward an event planned in March to early December. Tim Hughes steps up with transport of stakes and binders in his newly refurbished jumbo trailer. 

Result- A victory for Frank and the Society with 24 attendees , representing the broad church  nature of the Society from current National Champions , to  trainees, from early 20s to nearly 80s  and all in between.
A challengingly beefy and tall mixed hedge , which some reason had been planted with extra wide rows and close to a fence. Much chainsaw work got most of the hedge down before it rained, which was lucky as from the photos you can see it was starting to turn quite muddy.
15 cants completed  with an impressive pile of brash to boot.

Tip - most of our events are not competitive ; if you don't feel like undertaking the marathon  of doing 10 yards hard graft by yourself , let Frank know in advance , so  you can work in a pair with someone of your choice. The model for this is the French and Jeffries Partnership, a fairy recent union that is now paying dividends, with some cracking work to show amongst the many words of wisdom and odd expletive.  

 Members Book your place now - Coppicing Day 2 - Blunts Wood Haywards Heath 30.12.21; email Tim Hughes at    timcrhughes@hotmail.co.uk
​
PS. The illustrious trio of Schofield , Jeffries and French finished off the hedge with  a couple of return visits, even managing to work round a raised manhole cover. The end result looks splendid and great example of the quality work undertaken by the Society. Well done chaps.

Click on the blue text below to go to a great article in Farmers Weekly which features SEHLS member Nigel Adams 


How to establish, manage and rejuvenate hedgerows - Farmers Weekly (fwi.co.uk)

​

An excellent day's coppicing at Turners Hill  produced 650 binders  and 350 stakes.

20 Society members  attended and  all worked really hard and achieved the objective of clearing 2 large areas of coppice and forming a brush barrier around the perimeter of each area to deter deer.

Tim has spent many days in the wood felling and clearing by himself and the wood is starting to produce some decent product, with the prospect of more in the years to come .

It was great to see new members  Mick, Beth and Elizabeth, who got stuck in  and contributed extremely well to the team effort.
​
As ever , Terry showed us all how to sort bundle and tie up the finished product.

All agreed they a really enjoyable  and productive day. The food  and hot drinks provided by Matthew also went down well.

The next coppicing day is at Blunts Wood , Haywards Heath on 30 December, which will be different type of wood and coppice , but still should be a great day , especially after the Christmas period. We are hoping to get 30 Society members attending- please keep that day free.

34 yards of unfinished hedge  was left over at Training Day hedge 1 at Clapham, near Findon.

The three musketeers , aka Tim , Iain and Alan  dutifully completed the hedge recently, on a day that was the wettest for a while. They stuck to their task admirably and had it completed by early afternoon.
​Well done chaps , it is great to have the first totally completed hedge of the season.

The completed  hedge of 207 yards now  looks fantastic .

Worth reading - click on link below:-

Turning over a new leaf: the humble hedge stages a remarkable comeback | Rural affairs | The Guardian

Nigel Adams is quoted in article

More The Society was extremely well represented at the 2021 National Championships held at Rotherfield estate Alton Hampshire on 23 October 2021, with David Dunk taking the headlines , but all attending Society members  acquitting themselves admirably.

19 members entered the competition, covering Midland , SOE, Dorset and Yorkshire styles.
The hedge was a real challenge and varying in composition , species , age and density , hence organizers  allowed 6 hours cutting time rather than  the usual 5.

All 6 hours were required, but all managed to finish in time with massive amount of brash being produced. 

Winners of their classes were :-

• South of England Open - David Dunk
• South of England Intermediate - Mike Mason
• South of England Vets - David Droscher
• Yorkshire - Gary Moore

Special awards were made to :-

• Best overall intermediate - Mike Mason
• Best overall vet- David Droscher
• Best work on a poor length- Gary Moore

Runners up in various classes included :-

• South of England Intermediate - Graham West
• South of England Vets - Clive Gilligan

Full results will be fond on the NHLS site in the next week or so :-NHLS (hedgelaying.org.uk)

So congratulations to the winners and especially David Dunk , who had a beast of a hedge and some very strong competition in that class.We are extremely lucky to have such quality cutters as members of the Society, who give their time freely to the cause.

All who took part  did a good job, even those entering for the first time- the hedge had practically all the challenges it could have - Phil Hart described it as character building- he wasn't kidding !

Thanks must go to the Society members who  judged , Kevin Agate ,Dave Truran and Mark Moore, along with the stewards Roger Taylor and Helene Threadgold - they travelled a long way , gave up their time and were very professional in their duties.

Phil Hart towed the display caravan to the event and manned it with Gwyn Alford and others - a decent number of members of the public called by and hopefully that will lead to new trainee enquiries and more hedges.

It was pleasing to see some of this year's trainees come along - hopefully they will have been inspired by what they saw.

More photos can be found at :-
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Se3oXMFni35JTD6F7
( copy and paste into search bar)
​
The next SEHLS event, Training Day 2, is again in Hampshire , at Petersfield on 6 November .If you have not already signed up please do so  by emailing  Frank Wright at  fdw1709@gmail.com  There is around 180 yards of nice double row hawthorn  hedge to lay. 

Not much feedback from cutters , but as ever Ed Lovejoy's hedge was a challenge with an added ditch .
The photos tell most of the story.

The show moves onto the National Hedge Laying Society Annual Championships at Alton on 23 October, with excellent representation from SEHLS in the SOE , Derby and Midland classes, along with judges and stewards being Society members. Phil and Gwyn are manning the display caravan.
More information can be found at    NHLS (hedgelaying.org.uk)
​

​An excellent day was had by around 25 cutters at a glorious site on top of the South Downs near Findon, having a 360 degree panoramic view over Long Furlong to Worthing in the South.

The morning  briefing  included a minutes' silence in memory of Phill Piddell, who is sadly missed. He would have like the venue and hedge .

The weather was extremely benign , even hot  and the hedge was as Frank had promised - mixed planted hedge, where hand tools predominated.

We were joined by 6 trainees Stewart, Jonathan, Nigel , Darren, Richard  and Mike , who all put in a good shift under the close eye of trainers  Alan, Tim , Roger, Frank, Dave and Marcus . This was an excellent introduction for the trainees, who  will have to get used to harder hedges and less kind weather.

A feast of a lunch was put on by Toby the land owner, which was welcome break  and a chance to catch up with old friends.

Great to see the dynamic duo of Kevin and John producing some classy work at the front of the site , while David Dunk put us all to shame  with the sharpness of his axes.

Tim brought along some holly beadles and managed to sell one  !

Events like this don't just happen on their own , a quick thank you to :-

• Frank - for finding the hedge , marking out  and ensuring the day happened , including putting out and retrieving SEHLS directional markers
• Dave and Dave - for cutting and transporting the binders 
• Tim - for transporting the stakes
• Phil- for being there  and  helping to set up 

A great start to the year- harder hedges to follow - especially next week at Wittersham , for those hoping to get in practice for the National Championships on 23 October at Alton.
​
Matthew Beard
​10.10.21

Tribute to Phillip Piddell 1964-2021
 
Most of you will know by now that Phill passed away on 24 August, at the cruel young age of 57.Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this really sad time.

A number of members from the Society attended Phill’s Celebration of Life held outside, in a delightful English country garden at Groombridge on 23 September. It was a very moving occasion and was a fitting and appropriate send off for Phill.

For most of us at the Society, Phill kept his prestigious talents under a bushel; he was both a Degree and Masters holder, an innovator, leader and inspirer in his BT career which spanned more than 3 decades.
At the celebration of life we heard from number of friends and family about Phill’s appetite for life, whether it was computing, bodging, being a DJ, visiting far flung countries or generally having a go at something different.

Clearly he held family very close and his father in law summed up Phill in a single sentence – that Phill made sure he wrung every last drop of living out of life. He was not wrong- Phill turned his hand to working with wood, leather and metal

Phill will be a massive loss to the Society; until his illness he was Membership and Competitions Secretary, lead communicator with the membership, Website developer and fixer and expert on anything that involved a computer.

Phill pulled together a lot of policies and procedures that allow the Society to function as well as it does.
For many in the Society, Phill would have been one of the first points of contact for new members; without his diligence, efficiency   and engagement, we would not have the membership we have today.
​
Phill represented what the Society stands for – he was welcoming, engaging, self-deprecating, but he knew how to have fun and he made the most of life. He was also a talented cutter. We miss him terribly and the Committee will decide over the next few meetings how best to preserve Phill’s memory.


Donations, if desired, in memory of Philip may be made to Brain Tumour Research Charity and sent via phillippiddell.muchloved.com

 Some nice photos of Phill  from the Nationals 2019 and a tool sharpening event at Plumpton

Around a dozen current SEHLS  members took part  in the Big Lay- a charity hedge laying event in aid of Air Ambulance and RABI , held at Rotherfield Estate, Alton , Hampshire on 25 September.
The event was organised by the National Hedge Laying  Society and approximately 120 cutters turned up from all over the country and Ireland , with the intention of laying 1400m of hedge.
The SOE section of hedge was furthest from the meeting point  and was predominately some beefy hazel , with some gnarly and mature field maples and gave all a good early season work out.
Although not in the photos , each cutter produced a massive amount of brash
Some cutters did not leave site until 6.30 pm, so a full day was had by all.
Well done to all for making the effort to attend  and lay a challenging hedge.
It was interesting to talk to cutters who learnt their skills with SEHLS more than 20 years ago.
Matthew Beard
​26.9.21

Mrs P wanted to visit Sissinghurst.    The Society layed a hedge around the veg garden in 2017, so it was a chance to see how the hedge had grown and how the NT had looked after it. 
sehls.weebly.com/blog/archives/11-2017

Well the good news it it looks great, they have looked after it, and its starting to thicken up a treat. 

Letter from Chailey Heritage Foundadition

 ​I don’t know about you ,  but I am feeling well and truly fed up with Lockdown , Tiers,  restrictions  and lack of social interaction. Normally I would not consider myself to be a particularly social or gregarious person, happy with my own company ….………to a point.
I have been working from home since mid March and not really ventured far from home since , which from a covid perspective is great , but I am starting to become  stir crazy.
It would be easy to wallow in a pit of self pity – something  I really try not to do.

Hedge laying is the perfect antidote to the lamentous situation we find ourselves in :-

• Physical activity outside
• Excellent for physical and mental wellbeing
• A sense of achievement and creating something worthwhile

So banish those Lockdown Blues !
 
Matthew Beard  29.12.20

Saturday 5th December, location Chelwood Gate for hedgelaying day 3. Having arrived and parked up, the day's first sporting challenge was a gentle yomp to the hedge line which was around 400 metres away. Some cutters chose a minimalistic approach to the amount of tools and equipment carried, whilst others adopted more of a pack horse scenario including the use of wheelbarrows and multiple trips. All, however, were keeping a weather eye open as the initial forecast was looking ominous.
 
Once on site, a quick glance confirmed that we were faced with a hedge of two halves. The top half was well endowed with our old friend Rubus fruticosus (Bramble) and a fair amount of blackthorn sucker growth. Consequently, it was no surprise that most of the early-bird cutters had gravitated to the bottom half of the hedgerow which was mainly very dense hazel but devoid of bramble.
 
Nonetheless, everyone got stuck in and progress was soon being made. Marcus Broome and Graham West, on adjacent cants to each other, were working on the blackthorn/bramble section of the hedge. Having cut back about a metre and a half of blackthorn sucker growth they finally got to the hedge proper. However, beyond the hedge was a thicket of bramble which was growing over and through the hedge and also needed removing. Upon finally clearing all the excess overgrowth from his cant, Marcus declared that he must surely hold the record for the amount of preliminary work required on a hedge, to which Graham replied that it was a record that he was welcome to keep!
 
Elsewhere, chairman Phil Hart unleashed his chainsaw and made very short work of the overgrowth on at least two cants of hedge. He was, however, rewarded with the usual banter about the amount of kit he had plus the noise level accompanying his saw.
 
 In the afternoon  there was the briefest shower of rain despite Chris Burchell-Collins' best attempt at a rain dance, and the predicted persistent rain didn't arrive until the majority of cutters had left. We were particularly lucky in this regard as in the West of the County heavy hail showers had been falling throughout the day.
 
At close of play the 'hedge of two halves' looked very respectable indeed and everyone had contributed well. Our hosts were very impressed by our efforts and at the end of the day you can't ask for more than that. It was great to see a really good turn out from the Society with a good mix of experienced and novice cutters and as always, the good-natured banter was flowing aplenty.
 
Huge thanks once again to Phil Hart, David Droscher and Frank Wright for organising the day and ensuring that the stakes and binders were where they needed to be, and a very big thank you to our hosts for looking after us so well. 
 
Author :- Graham West