Fencing contest a true trial of skill

Seven two-man teams, from as far afield as Devon and Warwickshire, competed for a £750 prize and a title worth painting on the van.

It looked as hard as running a marathon and the competitors swigged from gallon-sized drinks container as they worked.

They had four hours to complete a 45-metre stock fence, with an extra-strong “box strut” at one end and a conventional “leaning strut” at the other – and posts of six inches in diameter to sink in between.

There was a bonus point for each unused minute of the last hour on top of 300 points for quality of work.

Wood was supplied by Calders & Grandidge of Boston, Lincs; fencing by Arcelor Mittal of Sheffield; and joining and tensioning devices by Gripple of Sheffield. And the main prize was put up by a Yorkshire-based magazine, Fencing & Landscaping News, which is produced from Greengates, between Leeds and Bradford.

Judges were Jon Vicary, from agricultural and forestry contractors J&S Vicary of Market Weighton, and Peter Walters, from Shropshire, chairman of the British Standards organisation for fencing.

Mr Vicary said: “This must now be in the top one or two events of its kind in the country and there is nothing else like it in Yorkshire. It is a true trial of skill and strength and the ability to think as well.”

Mike Ford, from Tiverton, Devon, won in 2009 and 2010 but this year came second to Charlie Hubbard and Ray Baylis, from JS Hubbard & Son of Coventry. Third place went to Dan Critchlow and Anthony Ollerenshaw, from Alan Froggatt Fencing of Sheffield.

To enter next year, on July 18, email [email protected]/