Phil Hart (Chairman) won the toss and picked the lower section of hedge, leaving Alan Ashby (Acting President for the day) the top section. The lower section was double planted, while the top section was mainly single planted, but with typically slightly larger stems. We also agreed to do continuous binding on our respective sections, so the faster cutters were given the higher sections. The stems were generally good, with the odd dead plant, and some brittle bits here and there.
The sections were not marked out, so it was up to the individual cutters to select what they felt comfortable with, and to work individually or in pairs.
A slight complexity was the old fence behind the hedge was staying in place for the time being, so laying off was tricky.
Everyone made a good start, and we appeared to be well ahead of schedule by the time Bob and Des arrived with the stakes and binders. It was good to see Cilla Tunks and family who came to see how were getting on.
Phil's team were progressing slightly faster, and were first to begin binding, with Alan's team a little behind in places.
The binders being packed in 20s were not ideal for short 8 yard sections as some people did not have any, at the end of Phil's section I went into a minor panic and made 3 of us tweak the spacing a little (widening it, so using less binders), it probably didn't make a lot of difference to be honest.
By the finish time Phil's team had finished and Alan's team were about half way through the bindings.
Anyway our judge for the day (Mike Parrott) declared Phil's team as the winners, and the Chairman was presented with the Wood plate.