A FARM contract worker is celebrating returning to the competitive hedge laying fold after a seven-year absence to be crowned national champion.

Robert Hogarth, of Natland, travelled south to take part in the National Hedgelaying Championship at Rutland Water, and headed back to Cumbria with the Lancashire and Westmorland style winners’ trophy safely tucked under his arm.

He won the competition three years running in 2000, 2001 and 2002 - the last time he took part in the event.

“I guess you could say I returned to the competition on a high,” said Mr Hogarth. “You have a time limit and you have to work as fast, and be as tidy as you can. There was strong competition there.

It’s just a case of getting on with the job in hand during the time you have.”

There are different styles of hedge laying in different parts of the UK and each style has been developed over many years to cope with the climate of the area, different farming practices and the type of trees and shrubs that grow in the hedge.

There are more than 30 styles recorded in the UK plus others in France, Germany and Holland, and each year the National Championship tests the skills of the hedge layer on eight of the main styles in current use.

Mr Hogarth’s style, Lancashire and Westmorland, calls for the hedges to be well maintained for both cattle and sheep, with stakes placed about 18ins apart on alternate sides of the hedge with the stems, laid between at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. The stems are then woven around the stakes and the hedge, which is square cut, is finished to a height of at least 3ft 6ins.

This differs from other regions such as, for example, Devon, where the hedge is normally laid on top of a bank, normally forming the main barrier against livestock, and the densely packed brush is designed to keep sheep and lambs secure. This style uses crooked hazel sticks to secure hedge and binders.

Mr Hogarth has had plenty of practice during his day job for the competition, run by the National Hedge Laying Society, promotes the belief that hedgerows help to define the uniqueness of the British countryside while providing an important wildlife habitat.

“I do hedge laying for a living and got into it about 15 years ago, because it looked like a good job.

"I travel all over Cumbria and Lancashire with my work. The hedge laying and trimming is mostly for farmers, and I also do contract slurry spreading for them as well.”