For he to-day that cuts this hedge with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And cutters in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That laid with us upon PVC day.
(With apologies to William Shakespeare)*
12 hardy cutters turned out to attack one of Ed Lovejoy’s notorious hedges. Actually we didn’t have to be that hardy as the weather was perfect even though there had been a bit of early rain. The ground was a bit soft even for the 4WD brigade.
The hedge was old hawthorn and some old maple on a bank above a wet ditch so not an easy job as most plants were multi-stemmed and very tangled so each one took a lot of work. It certainly wasn’t a classic hedge.
The draw took place about 0830 and should, more accurately, be titled the Vice-president v. Chairman competition on this occasion as the teams were captained by Phil Hart and Dave Sands. The Prez did turn out and assist on his team a little later. With only 12 of us that didn’t take long so we were all off to attack the hedge. Each team worked out amongst themselves who should do what and anyone that finished their bit went on to assist someone else. The hedge proved to be as awkward as anticipated but a decent job was made of it nevertheless. Being old there was a tendency for stems to break off … but you have to work with what you’ve got. The VP had won the right to choose which half of the hedge to cut and chose wisely and the (Vice) President’s team duly took the trophy. The total length of hedge laid was 112metres or 122 yards. The pictures give some idea but you had to be there really.
Our suffering was allayed by another excellent Ed Lovejoy BBQ lunch with home-grown pork, lamb and beef burgers and sausages plus two kinds of cake! He is one of the most reliable lunch-providers on the list.
When we had finished we went back up to the farmyard for the presentation by Ed who also judged the outcome; hopefully there is a picture somewhere of Mike Parrot. receiving the trophy. The pop-up farm shop then had a hectic few minutes while cutters stocked up on some of Ed’s home-grown meat, bacon, sausages, chops, etc.
Everybody seemed to enjoy the day, which is probably the main thing as I imagine most of us hope to enjoy an outing with the Society. For those unfamiliar with the event, it’s pretty relaxed, there is a trophy but nobody takes it too seriously … it is a team event and we all help each other out to try and make the best of what we have.
* Henry V, Act IV, Scene III; the rallying speech prior to the battle of Agincourt. The mangled quote is not intentionally gender-specific but the inclusion of a selection of personal pronouns did not scan.
Frank Wright
SEHLS Hedge Manager and Mail Chimp guru