Meet the heritage craftsmen vying to lay Yorkshire's best hedge in hard-fought competition

Shropshire-born and now for many years Leeds-based Guy Thornton was a thatcher in his teens and early twenties but switched from what he termed a nomadic lifestyle and turned to hedgelaying seven years ago. Guy is looking forward to competing once again in the intermediate class.

Guy said his introduction to hedgelaying had come when he had moved to Leeds.

“I had started woodland management and coppice work with my now good friend James Benson. My path into learning how to lay a hedge properly was through being shown by James, practising on a number of hedges with him and competing in the Yorkshire competition. I won the novice class first go in 2015.

“All of those taking part in whichever class are tasked with making what is called a Yorkshire hedge. What really marks it out as such are posts and a rail at the top. You generally start with just a row of little trees that you turn into a hedge and the vast majority of Yorkshire hedges are made up of hawthorn to the extent of 90 per cent or more.

There are rules and standards to be adhered to in order to stand any chance of taking a much-coveted hedgelaying honour and Guy is doffs his cap in the direction of those who have proven themselves time after time.

“You receive points for how straight the rail is, how it matches accurately to the Yorkshire hedge criteria of straight along the top, for laying cuts and for general presentation.

“Hedges have to be laid true to the Yorkshire style, the finished hedge has to be 3ft high including the top rail and your finished hedge length must join with the next section. It’s all very closely measured. And then there’s the style in which you lay the hedge. It takes years of experience to get anywhere near some of the greats.

“There are so many good hedgelayers and I strive to do the best I can do. I’m somewhere in the middle. I try to put the time in to my own development by working with already experienced hedgelayers and I try to compete as much as I can. There’s also a South Yorkshire hedgelaying competition this year that I hope to enter, run by Longley Farm.

“I took time out from my main business to go and work with Charlie Calvert and Jasper Prachek to refine my processes. They are both hedgelaying heroes of mine and are some of the best in the country. They have complete understanding of hedgelaying and have spent a lifetime doing it. Jasper is a hedgelaying legend and very intuitive in what he does.

Guy said that it is probably not the greatest spectator sport, but it is for those who have a keen eye for hedging detail or want to learn more; and there are elements other than a hedgelayer’s own technique that can have a bearing on the result.

“Those watching are mostly friends, family and those who have retired from competitive hedgelaying. It’s not the most exciting thing for most people, but there are those who will watch intently.

“Sometimes it depends what the judge wants to see and what their interpretation of a Yorkshire hedge might be because there can be differences in a Yorkshire hedge from area to area.

Guy’s business Thornton Heritage Crafts now sees him hedgelaying commercially from September to early March each year and during the spring and summer he moves to another type of craftwork.

“I have a mixture of work with a reasonable amount of regular work from big estates in the East Riding of Yorkshire, private gardens, private estates and landowners. The lion’s share of that is the estates work where landowners are keen to redevelop old and neglected hedges and planting new.

“In spring and summer I turn to green wood carpentry making structures for people from compost toilets to timber cabins, cleft oak gates and fences. They are all things made out of local oak that I have felled. I work closely with Leeds City Council where I handle the thinning work of oak and also felling and thinning for private woodland owners.

Guy said he sees greater opportunities for people to go more into the world of rural and woodland crafts and green carpentry skills.

“I think a growing number of people are becoming disillusioned with the idea of what work should be, what they should do, and for those that have a calling to nature there’s definitely interest there. There are a whole range of countryside courses and schemes in place that are there to encourage greater participation in future.

“It’s all down to the individual. There is the work there if people put the time into learning what to do and find the right courses. It does require a big leap of faith if you are coming from a different sector, but I’ve spent a lifetime in craft and it has always felt quite natural to me.

“I have some who work on a casual basis with me as either joiners or hedgelayers and at some point I would consider taking on apprentice.

Next Saturday Guy will still be considering himself somewhat of an apprentice once again as he looks towards the hedges being laid by those competing in the Open Class, although he confesses he won’t have too much time to see what they’ve done until he’s completed his efforts.

“Do I have any hedgelaying ambitions? Given enough time, who knows? There are a lot of skilled people out there who would have to get very old, very quickly in order to open the door for me to win. There are those who have 20, 30 or 40 years on me and in hedgelaying that really makes a difference. My heroes Jasper & Charlie don’t compete anymore but there are many others that do and do it very well.

“I’m also now helping with the association’s social media pages. We are trying to inject new blood into the annual competition and we would love to see more people young or whatever age getting involved.

The 30th Yorkshire Hedgelaying Association Competition will be held at Birchwood Farm, Ripley next Saturday 12 November by kind permission of Kate Smith. Entries can be made to Charlie Calvert on 07712 397959.