Wight Nature Fund’s Autumn Hedgelaying competition was hosted by Isle of Wight Steam Railway at Havenstreet earlier this month.
A day of bright November sunshine saw Tom Murphy of Freshwater lay 10 metres of immaculate hedging in 5 hours to claim the Open Class victory.
Tom won a new trophy for this event and a prize of chainsaw trousers, donated by Stubbings Brothers. The Judge, Derrick Hale, an ex-national champion himself, travelled from Derby and was pleased to report that once again a very high standard had been achieved, awarding a score of 96/100 to Tom Murphy’s 10 metre stretch of hedging.
Tony Wilsden travelling across the Solent for the event, taking second place, narrowly defeating the overall winner of February’s Wight Nature Fund Spring competition, Kinsgley Hollis.
Andy Toms took Novice Trophy and the prize of a Billhook, donated by Garwoods. The team prize of a pair of loppers to each team member, donated by Mole Valley Stores, was awarded to Jim Clinton and Liam Newton, competing as the Dog’s Billhooks.
New trophies made by a local craftsman, were presented; a large carved yew wood bird for the Open Class, and a smaller bird for the Novice Class.
The winners all took away a pair of Procove gloves, generously donated by the manufacturer.
Throughout the day, interested spectators were able to learn about this traditional skill, with a demonstration of Isle of Wight style hedgelaying by Oswald Hoskyns.
One welcome spectator was Frank Heap, now retired from his work for the National Trust, who had come to see mixed hedging which he had planted around 15 years ago, being laid in the traditional stock-proof way for the benefit of wildlife.
Wight Nature Fund Trustees would like to thank Isle of Wight Steam Railway for use of Havenstreet overflow field, which provided an excellent and highly accessible venue, which Wight Nature Fund look forward to returning to on 7th November 2026, for the 2026 competition.
I saw the fruits of this competition last Friday, it was fantastic, just need to do the rest of the site now.