2009 Isle of Wight Hedgelaying Competition

The 2009 competition was held on Saturday 28 February 2009 at Dunsbury Farm, Brook by kind permission of Mr & Mrs P Seeley.

Location: Dunsbury Farm, Brook

Coverage in Ventnor Blog

The competition's return to Dunsbury Farm was a hugely popular choice, with the stunning views across the sea to Dorset forming the backdrop to what was one of the more memorable competitions in recent years.

Once more the entry numbers hit record highs, with the entire length of hedge laid throughout the day — not a single stem was left standing by the competitors, who cut eighteen pitches between them. Additionally there was once more a demonstration pitch by Peter Tunks, a former supreme national champion who this year chose to lay in Midlands style, which generated much interest as this style is hardly known on the Island.

Other attractions included a demonstration of hurdle-making from local hurdle-maker Richard Bolwell, and the usual impressive display of billhooks. The crowd assembled at 15:30 to hear the results, and once more judges Paul Sivell and Alan Ashby kept the punters in suspense as they went back to review their marks on more than one occasion before they finally emerged from their huddle.

Some surprises were in store as former novice champion Rob Richards was promoted this year to the Open class, and in this, his first ever Open event managed to tie for fourth place with former champion Dick Pulleine. Long-standing competitor Tom Murphy of Living Landscapes improved on his previous year's performance to take a respectable third place, whilst the top slots were taken by the two National Trust wardens; Sean Adams being just beaten by reigning Open champion Paul Davis.

In the Novice class, Isle of Wight Council countryside ranger Rick Temple made a remarkable leap from 5th place in 2008 to lift the Mary Sitch Novice cup. The judges pointed out how very close this class was, with runners up Paul Trickett and Alex Holmes being only one and two points behind respectively.

Results

Open Class

  1. 1st — Paul Davis
  2. 2nd — Sean Adams
  3. 3rd — Tom Murphy
  4. 4th — Dick Pulleine (joint with Rob Richards)
  5. 5th — -
  6. 6th — Oswald Hoskyns
  7. 7th — James Cook

Novice Class

  1. 1st — Rick Temple
  2. 2nd — Paul Trickett
  3. 3rd — Alex Holmes
  4. 4th — -
  5. 5th — -

Team Class

  1. 1st — Honey Badgers (Peter Smith, Arran Hobday)
  2. 2nd — Return of the Wench Layers (Leigh Taylor, Nat Purcell, Di Simmons)
  3. 3rd — The Red Hot Solar Panels (Alex Ely, Jay Southcott, Luke Abraham)
  4. 4th — The East Ryders (David Pitman, David Long, Alex Gilbert)
  5. 5th — The Ladybirds (Hollie Higgins, Kara Newberry, Abbie Gregory)
  6. 6th — Dunsbury Farm (Patrick Seeley, Paul Johnson, Jim Valentine)
  7. 7th — Rough Edges (David Harding, Vivienn Jackson)
  8. 8th — The Bush Bashers (Jordan Harper, Tom Greaves, Simon Creed)

The W Hurst & Sons Cup: retained by Rob Richards.

The Wight Wildlife trophy: awarded to the Isle of Wight College (accepted by Dave Trevan).