Our 35th annual competition was again at Angmering park, a massive estate north of Worthing. After turning on the main road its still a few miles to drive to the hedge. And set in the middle of the south downs national park, what better setting could you want?
The setup team did a fantastic job, the marking out was looking good. Everyone arrived (almost) on time. Our competitors were mainly locals but we also had visitors from Yorkshire, Dorset, and Holland. We were greeted with clear sunny skys, which was a welcome break from the winter rain. Phil briefed the cutters, and reminded everyone of the new hand tools rules Our stewards managed the theatre of the cant draw, then all to soon the start horn blasted out The hedge was pretty consistent, pretty tall, and generally not to big. Once the cutters started many had an eye on the hand tools prize money, and set about removing heals with swinging tools. It has to be said the results were variable. The canny veterans were on the whole wise to this, and most set off with chainsaws from the get go. Our judges and stewards spent the day checking everything, and passing occasional timely comments, much to the approval of anyone on the receiving end. All to soon we had an hour to go, and a little panic set in on many cants. Fortunately by the final horn everyone had finished, with maybe a little last minute tweaking missed. By the end of the day it was actually hot, and many had caught the sun. We drove to the pub for a superb lunch, and prize giving. Well done to all the winners. Massive thanks to the Stewards, Judges, the other admin people, and the setup and cooppicing crews. Photo’s will be loaded overnight, check back over the following days There are a few pictures from Matthew from the setup crew https://photos.app.goo.gl/maJZCUfrBFyax9bv9 Below the individual scores. I will post the full list of winners Monday, along with the detail from the points trophy Thanks for everyone who renewed their membership, I'll sort that out Monday and email everyone to confirm payment received. The on-site team have measured out the sections, bundles of stakes and binders have been issued to each section. The Hedge is looking good, its grown since last year!
Hopefully the sun will burn off the fog once we get started.... Pictures of course https://photos.app.goo.gl/maJZCUfrBFyax9bv9 Anyone planning to watch the competition here is a map
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5DZtkXJwz6NRFFjOHNpU2xBT2pVWVZ3SU9YT0dpaXdkZHZJ/view?usp=sharing The cutting starts at 08:30, and will last 5hrs. See you there! The coppice team were busy today at Saint Hill, nice looking binders for the competition.
860 cut by 7 members (the usual reliable few, TS FW DD MB MM and new member Andy), plus 200 I have in stock. This will see us through for the Charity / Fun day and Midland Day. Just had an email from David Dunk, the stakes are ready for collection. Coppice pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q34NjtLdZKBMWLsb7 It is not often in life that everything you hoped for comes to fruition, but this year’s President v Chairman competition came close:-
It was great to see Roger back cutting, he produced a really quality section of hedge. This event acts as reminder on how lucky the Society is to have the President and Chairman we have ; thank you Peter and Phil. Pictures https://photos.app.goo.gl/fH9i585Rj7wC9sLP7 Matthew While the bulk of the SEHLS team were at Folkington (see other report), two intrepid cutters braved the weather and competed at the Wimpole competition.
A very early start for David Dunk saw him dodging cars abandoned in the snow to meet Gary Moore for the long trip to Cambridgeshire. The results are in Midland Class 3rd Alex Howden 2nd Gary Moore 1st Graham Teece South Of England Class 3rd Jacob Radford 2nd Tim Radford 1st David Dunk Well done Gary, and super well done to David for beating Tim Radford (Current national champion) on his home turf. The picture below is the winning stake line. Pictures https://photos.app.goo.gl/42RGPohV4BdgSY2CA |
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March 2024
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