COUNTRY LIFE
Hedgelaying
treble for Tom
Even a bitterly cold day and
late change of venue, didn’t
deter hundreds of people from
watching some of the Island’s
best hedgelayers and three
mainland competitors, battling
it out at this year’s Isle of Wight
Hedgelaying Competition.
It was held recently at Dunsbury
Farm, Brook, by kind permission
of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Seely.
Richard Grogan of The
Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Wildlife Trust with Alan Ashby, a
current National Champion and
Peter Tonks a former Supreme
National Champion, both from
Kent, had the difficult task of
judging.
Winner of the ‘AONB Open
Title’ for the third consecutive
year was Tom Murphy, leaving Oz
Hoskyns again in second place.
Jim Clinton improved massively
on his last year’s performance
to claim the ‘Mary Sitch Novice
Cup’, forcing Nat Purcell to be
runner-up by just one point.
The Dunsbury Farm team of
parkes
Master S
Patrick Seely and brother-in-law
Paul Johnson made the most of
home advantage by seeing off all
other teams, with Green Gym 2
coming second in the ‘Landscape
Therapy Team Section’.
Competitors hedges are mainly
scored on their stock proofness,
the quality of their cuts and
ability for re-growth along with
the straightness of stakes and
standard of heathering, with
additional points being picked up
for tidiness, correct height and
judges extras!
The results and prize giving
ceremony was carried out by
joint organisers Tony Ridd of
Landscape Therapy and Matthew
Chatfield from the Isle of Wight
Council, with Fiona Hanna
(AONB Partnership) and Ian
Carpenter (W Hurst & Son)
presenting their cups to a round
of applause.
For more information visit
www.iwhg.org
Photos by Pink Eye Graphics and Wil Court
Andrew Turner, Carol Dennett, Paul Johnson,
Patrick Seely and front Susannah Seely
Oz Hoskyns
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