The hedge was alongside a footpath and was getting a little overgrown, the improver's were give 6 pretty consistent sections and the rest of the hedge was split between the other members. To make it a little more of a challenge there was a wood fence behind the hedge, which meant it was a left hander day, and the right handers got a taste of how hard the lefties have to usually work.
After almost a week of rain it was a little soft under foot, but because the foot path was up a slight hill it was dry enough to make a nice day.
Everyone struggled to get started as there was very little room for laying off because of the fence, a few people opted for using the rest of the footpath.
The more experienced cutters didn't face any real problems and were progressing well, but most of the trainees were struggling a bit for time, so to ensure they had a chance to get the stakes and binders completed we gave them a bit of a nudge / helping hand. They were able to learn something at this point, watching the speed and accuracy of the experts at work. Sharp tools guys!
By the end of the day all each of the trainees had made a pretty good section of hedge, and I think by making a lot of their own decisions actually picked up a lot of new skill.
Alan Ashby was good enough to judge for us, and the final results were
3rd Jim Jones and Sarah Dolomore
2nd Natasha Stonestreet
1st Laura Ogilvie and Alexandre Gadnon
At the end of the day we had improved the footpath and tidied up the hedge which was looking much better.
Special mention must of course go to Sarah Dolomore who traveled all the way from Canada.
Pictures of course....
https://flic.kr/s/aHskzY9sWn
Name, cut+pleach, Stakes+binders, Gerneral Appearance, total
Andrea Kevin, 21, 16,17, 54
Laura Alex, 23,18, 20, 61
Vim, 18, 19, 18, 55
Neil, 19, 15, 15, 49
Sarah Jim, 21, 20, 17, 58