Our last event of the year was our "Try something different day" and we decided to give the popular "Midland" style a go. We have a few cutters in the society who lay this style, so we herded them up for some training.
For those not familiar with Midland style its very "showy" with all the pleachers on view, and all the fluffy stuff on the "back" If you search the internet for a picture of hedgelaying you will probably see midland style.
The build of the hedge is different to SoE, in that we are looking for a wall of wood, with stems sitting neatly onto of each other, and nothing sticking out front. For us SoE people it seems very odd and brutal, but it regrows well!
All the attendees were regular cutters so the pleaching was not an issue, but laying off and the build did keep our experts busy helping us get the build started, poor Alan Ashby ended up building almost 1/2 the final hedge :-)
The stakes are put in as you go, which keeps the line straight. Finally it was binder time, which to everyone's amusement Peter Tunks completely forgot how to do it, Dave Sands has a special binder style which he seemed to invent on the day which was a cross between SoE and Midland. Looked good, and had very little waste. Once again Alan demonstrated how to do this for every cant , but once started we were mostly able to finish this on our own.
A great day out
Pictures of course
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WQ15YXW8GHovv9iu5