The Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt’s 25th annual Hedge-laying Competition took place at Manor Farm, Milborne Wick on Sunday February 13.

It rained all day and the wind blew but 40 brave souls worked most of the day and laid nearly 300 yards of hedge.

They turned an over-grown and partly thin and straggly hedge in to a compact hedge which will be stock-proof after a year’s protection and a wildlife corridor for birds and mammals for many years to come.

Hedge-laying as a skill is more than 2,000 years old and different districts have distinctive styles.

The local South Somerset, Devon and Dorset style involves cutting young trees and shrubs immediately above the ground and bending them at a low angle so that the sap still rises and they still live.

These laid trunks are called plashers and can be laid parallel so as to achieve a thick, and quite broad hedge which will be stock-proof for many years.
A hedge that is not laid will become thin at the bottom and will ultimately become a row of detached trees.

Laying is strongly supported by DEFRA and by Natural England.
We believe we are the only competition that provides professionals to train the novice competitors as they go along.

Entry is free so that as many people as possible come and learn.
The long-term benefits are very important environmentally.

By Peter FitzGerald