HEAVY HORSE LOGGING & WOODLAND CRAFTS DAY – August 19th 2017
Since early December 2016 Frank Wright & Chris Burchell Collins whist not busy with SEHLS work have been planning and working towards August 19th 2017.  That’s when the culmination of their work comes together with a Heavy Horse Logging & Woodland Crafts day.
The event will be held at Tottington Woods in Small Dole, where Daniel  Brown will be using a horse to move some felled oak and ash to a saw bench run by Woodlouse Industries.
There will be traditional woodland crafts together with some wildlife related stands to see  with the horse logging, all set up in the woodland.
Tottington Woods is a semi ancient woodland managed by coppicing and is well known locally for its display of spring woodland flowers
Please see flyer, website and facebook for more details
http://tottingtonwoodlanders.org.uk/
Friends of Tottington Woods.

Fletching charity day 18 March 2017 presentation of money raised.
 
On the 14 June Bob Hunt, Des Whitington and Mike Parrott were invited to the opening of Patchwork Farm at Chailey Heritage by the Duchess of Gloucester. The following Thursday four of us presented the society cheque for £2000 to be used in the running of the farm. Members of the South of England Hedge Laying Society were warmly thanked by Joan Martin, secretary of the Fundraisers for their continued support of the Chailey Heritage Foundation.
 
Patchwork Farm is a multi-sensory learning environment designed and created for those with complex disabilities. As well as a learning resource for pupils at Chailey Heritage the farm will be used by schools in the area.
 
Although we raise money for the charity on a bi-annual basis, donations from members are always welcome and a collecting box will be at all our hedge laying days. Thank you all who donated.
 
Mike Parrott


 
 
   
The Duchess pictured second from the left is seen with teachers, volunteers and children at the opening of Patchwork Farm.
 




Sandra and Des Whitington with Pat and Mike Parrott present the society cheque

more pictures on http://www.chf.org.uk/PatchworkFarmOpening.html

I was at the annual "Bodgers Ball" at the weekend and came across a guy selling miniature tools he had made (which you can "pin" to your hat / coat etc.)
Amazing detail, including turned handles.  He has a range of billhooks (I blagged a nice yorkshire one) and even a twybill.   He seemed willing to accept commissions.   They do need a sharpen though :-)

They are about a £1 to post. let me know if you are interested.

The society season came to an end with a glorious day at Fletching (Near-ish to Uckfield)

The day started with drizzle as we arrived, but it did not last that long and it  settled into a cloudy  but dry day.

So with the weather recorded (perfect weather for hedge laying) we set off.

So what delights had David Droscher and Frank found for us?  Well a beautiful setting and an interesting hedge, which was mainly thorn, pretty old and brittle, and full of wild rose, tangling everything together.  It was possible with hand tools, and a fair number of people did attempt it, but chainsaws were the order of the day.

The STHIL battery chainsaws are starting to get very popular, and it makes a massive difference to the noise, and because you don't have to leave it burbling away they are perfect for hedge laying. So well done STIHL.... another tool which needs to be purchased.  I hope Mrs P is not reading this :-)

In order to encourage people to attend David Managed to convince his family to support us with tea and coffee and.... Cake.

As is often the way the old thorn can be a little brittle, and I don't think many people finished the day without breaking a few off.

All to soon battle had to stop as the BBQ was ready, the catering team put on a great BLT, cooked fresh with plenty of it for seconds for the hungry.

Back to the hedge people were starting to add stakes, but Frank who was next to me was still chopping away.  It soon became clear that he had somehow managed to bag himself a cant and a half (with nobody to blame as he was the one who measured and marked each section).

With a bit of a hand Frank soon dropped the last of his bonus section and I was able to stake and bind. picking up a tip from the competition I was busy pushing and pulling the stakes to get a good line an CRACK I managed to snap one!  right in the middle of my nice straight line of binders.  luck was with me as I managed to squeeze a slightly smaller stake in to replace the broken one.  Another reason to be grateful for the chestnut stakes from David Dunk :-)

All in all a great day out, interesting hedge, and superb food.

Pictures are on flickr
https://flic.kr/s/aHskWhZtdq

If you have any money for the charity www.chf.org.uk please make sure you get it to me or Mike as soon as possible, and we'll let you know how much we managed to collect.

The first batch of pictures have now uploaded!
https://flic.kr/s/aHskPuoPkk
Sorry its taken so long, but there are just so many great pictures

If you have any more pictures please upload them, or email them to me and I will add them

Photographs for this event taken by
Peter Schippers (Canon EOS 1200D)
Paul Bradley (Canon EOS 40D)

The final results for the points trophy are as follows:

The 33rd Annual society competition was held today at Nodes Farm Magham down.
With a record 41 cutters and perfect sunny weather we knew we were in for a good day.

The majority of the cutters were on the main drive down to the farm, working on Beech, with the novices a little further away working on thorn.

The draw went of with the usual theatre and we set off on time to start work.

Our team of judges and stewards did a sterling job of keeping order, and our team of photographers recorded the details, and tea (and cake) makers kept everyone going.

We had a fair number of spectators, so thanks to them, its good to see people showing an interest. if your reading this.... we do offer training courses so please let me know  and if could well be you competing and winning a cash prize next year.

The sections we were working on were pretty consistent, other than the grotty length which Geoff Pitt was assigned in the draw.    Des was very impressed with his work, and all agreed that it was the best work on a poor length.

With good weather most people had plenty of time, although a few of the seniors were making the most of the time and went right up to the wire.

Anyway by the time the final horn went off we had some winners, and a full set of complete sections.  Very well done to all the competitors some superb work by all.   And we hope to see many of you at the "fun day" next month for the end of season session (and FOOD!)  Let me know if you are planning to attend and I will send you a map.

As always it is worth asking the judges how you can improve, they will be honest and let you know where the think you can improve.  if you didn't speak to your judge then at least have a look at the following table with the scores for each section

And finally we were at the pub, and some really good food, thanks to the Horseshoe Inn for managing to feed another 12 people on top of the 57 we had booked.  Very well done, and everyone enjoyed it.
Thanks Mariya.

Photo's a on the way to our usual Flickr site as I type. Might take a while as there are loads!

The South Of England Hedge Laying Society (SEHLS) are holding our annual hedge laying competition on Sunday the 19th February at Nodes Farm, Nodes Lane, Magham Down BN27 4HY.  Just east of Haisham.

SEHLS President Peter Tunks said "This is a great opportunity for the public to see some of the best quality hedge laying in the country and learn more about the craft which is enjoying something of a renaissance"

This is a free event and you can watch some of the best hedge layers in the country each competing to lay the best quality section of hedge.

The competition lasts 5 hours
We start at 08:15 with a draw for cant (which section each is allocated)
at 08:30 we move to our sections and start cutting
at around 12:00 most people will have finished cutting and will be putting in stakes and binders
by 13:15 the finished hedges will be complete and each area tidied up.
Throughout the day the judges will be taking careful note of each section and preparing their score sheet

if you want to know more about the scoring have a look here

There are plenty of people to talk to during the event if you have any questions

Then we go to the pub and the scores are totalled, then it's prize giving time

The final scores along with the prize winners will be published on this blog later that day