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Date of the next competition: Saturday 25 February 2012: 1000 until 1500. Prizes will be presented at approx. 1530.
Location: New Barn Farm, Calbourne (on main road towards Newport).
Interested in entering? Download the form, which includes the terms and conditions of entry, and return it to us.
The 20th Annual IW Hedgelaying Competition is to be held on Saturday 25th February 2012 from 10:00am until 3:30pm. This year’s site is at New Barn Farm, Sunhill, Calbourne, Isle of Wight PO30 4JA, off the main Newport-Calbourne road. (Grid ref SZ43418687). The site is provided by kind consent of Mr. Chris Spence.
Entry is free for competitors and observers; spectators are welcome. As usual there will be a glittering display of prizes and a very good chance of winning one. This year we will include our usual large range of trophies and of course some valuable prizes, including the prize introduced in 2007 to be awarded to the best laid hedge using only hand tools.
If you are interested in entering, please get in touch! If you're already on our postal mailing list you will get a letter with an entry form.
Location of the 2012 competition:
Each year, the Isle of Wight Hedgerow Group organises the Isle of Wight Hedgelaying Competition; in 2010, the competition was in its 19th year.
The following is the report of the 2007 competition, as
reported by Jon Moreno of the Isle of Wight County Press.
A
RECORD number of spectators witnessed another captivating IW Hedgelaying Competition
with people of all abilities pitting their skills against each other on Saturday.
The 16th annual challenge, held at Blackwater Hollow, saw Godshill man Dick
Pulleine make it a highly impressive four-in-a-row in the open competition. 
Dick Pulleine carries out the finishing touches Mr Pulleine, 57, of
Bleak Down, who runs a coppicing business, retained the AONB Cup, making
it his eighth success since 1993, the year the competition began.
“There is no secret to my success. I do this kind of thing in the winter for a living — planting new hedgerows or refurbishing them,” said Mr Pulleine. “I’m well pleased with another win and enjoy some competition, though I have to say this year was one of the toughest I’ve had to date. Taking part each year gives me a buzz and I always set out to win. With the cup, I also won a new chainsaw, which will do me nicely.”
The judges, wood sculptor Paul Sivell and expert hedgelayer Alan Ashby, of Tunbridge Wells, had a tough task trying to pick a winner in the team event, which attracted nine entries. IW Council countryside rangers Richard Temple, Karl Dyson and Nick Webb, who called themselves The Power Rangers, took part in the competition for the first time and won The Landscape Therapy Challenge Trophy. In a day of firsts, National Trust head warden Robin Lang, 44, also won the novices event in his first-ever appearance in the contest, scooping The Mary Sitch Challenge Cup, a pruning saw and Hursts gift tokens for his efforts.
“I had always watched the competition and had been thinking about taking part for a long time, but never got round to it until this year. It was great fun, hedgelaying with people I know. It was a really nice atmosphere there and would have enjoyed taking part whether I had won or not,” he said.
Read other media reports of previous competitons.
Categories
There are three categories for the competition.
| OPEN Any person may apply to enter the Open category. Prize: The AONB Cup |
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| NOVICE Entrants to the Novice category must not have won any hedgelaying cup or prize more than twice. Prize: The Mary Sitch Cup |
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TEAM The Team category may consist of two or three persons, of whom one or more should be eligible for the Novice category. Prize: The Landscape Therapy Trophy |
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Plus
And since 2008 THE W HURST & SONS CUP |
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