Lancashire and Westmorland hedgelaying grand prix
The Forest of Bowland leg of the Lancashire
and Westmorland Grand Prix competition was 
held on Saturday 7th March at Chatburn near Clitheroe and attracted 40 hedgelayers from Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire. Abilities ranged from expert to novice including 5 Young Farmers. The experts each tackled a 10 yard stint of hedge curving round a tight bend giving an extra level of difficulty. The finished results look marvellous and over 50 people dropped in to see the hedgelayers at work including a family from Belgium who were staying nearby and a local man who had been trained by Lancashire County Council to lay hedges and build dry stone walls just after the 2nd world war! Robert Bell was crowned champion hedgelayer on the day but the battle to be supreme champion continues to the wire with the last Grand Prix competition being held at Ellel on 21st March.
Excellent pictures of the event are on the Farmers Guardian website.
http://www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=43&storycode=24917
