SEHLS Annual Competition

Sunday saw the SEHLS annual competition - yes, the day following the Patron's competition. Taking place on the Angmering Estate, West Sussex within the South Downs National Park there could not have been a more beautiful setting for a hedge laying competition. The weather behaved itself, with a bright frosty start and, although it clouded over later, it stayed dry until we reached the pub for lunch and prizes. The Skylarks sang, Buzzards soared over the woods and without the background roar of chainsaws (a hand tools only competition) it was a very peaceful and enjoyable day.

The hedge itself was some twelve or so years old, double planted and consisting -in the veteran section - of Hawthorn with some Hazel. Some cants at the top of the hill had more Hazel and consequently more stems to the yard. The hedge had been fenced against rabbits and whilst this had in the main been removed, some of the wire remained in the ground. There was little field layer, except ivy in some cants and no bramble or rose. Unfortunately the hedge had been flailed more than once at about eight feet producing some nasty stag-horns but then left to grow on about another three feet.

I didn't take any photos for a while as I was concerned about time but in fact there was plenty thanks to the lightness of the hedge and the lack of clearing out to be done before laying.

Everyone finished in good time and the standard was very high. The novice class in particular must have been difficult to judge as they had all done an exceptional job - pity I didn't think to take some photos of their cants; this however is a shot up the hedge from the champions and senior sections, with the veterans and novices at the top.

 

Scotney Castle - second visit

Back at Scotney Castle on Saturday, for the second visit with SEHLS. After the rain we have experienced over the last couple of weeks the ground is saturated and all vehicles had to be left in the car parks. The field next to the hedge was very wet and swishy underfoot but fortunately did not turn completely to mud around the hedge itself. We were working on the second section of the hedge that we started on our last visit in October but this section had a different structure and content, being a mix of Hawthorn and Hazel with one or two other species occurring randomly throughout. There was some self seeded rose and oddly one or two spindly Beech saplings.

I took the first cant which meant no laying off - don't know why this was left by those who arrived before me, as it was no better or worse than the other cants. I just had to undo some of the binding from the end of the previously laid section and start laying straight into the existing stakes - bonus! 

As it rained on and off for most of the day I didn't take as many photos as I had intended.

You can see from the photo below that the hedge had been allowed to grow up uncut but had recently - possibly last year - been flailed at about eight feet. This combined with the grazing of the sides of the hedge by the Sussex cattle meant that there were a lot of sturdy stems but not much side or top growth...

...and you can see it was much the same all down the hedge, although it was rather thin under the conifer (Scots Pine?) at the far end.

Looking down the hedge you get an impression of the species mix and density of the stems. On the right is a large Hawthorn with a 5-6 inch base and a lot of side stems, and on the left a Hazel stool with half a dozen straight poles and no side growth. What I did was to remove most of the large Hawthorn and lay the smaller stems in front and behind this, then lay most of the Hazel - but I did take out a couple of the straight poles for use as stakes.

In this shot you can see that one of the earlier large Hawthorns (right of centre) has been much reduced and laid. The sides look and bit bare for South of England style at this point but there was just sufficient material coming up to cover most of the pleachers.

A bit later...

 

By the time we got to the staking and binding stage the rain had cleared and the sun was out. Quite pleased with my finished cant and with the fact that, although hedges like this can be a struggle, you get the satisfaction that the hedge is rejuvenated and remodelled, which has has many benefits for wildlife, as well as improving the appearance and making the hedge easier to manage in future; and on this note I found, in my cant, what one of the NT wardens identified as a disused Dormouse nest just off the ground in a Hazel stool.

This last shot is looking up the two sections of hedge with binding in progress.