Hedge your bets for match (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

Hedge your bets for match

11:00am Sunday 23rd September 2012 in News

THIS year’s annual Melplash Agricultural Society hedging and ploughing match takes place on the Crutchley Estates on Saturday, September 22 at Yondover, near Bridport DT6 4NW.

The annual match is an important day in the Melplash Agricultural Society calendar and has been so since the society’s inception in 1847.

The aim is to promote and showcase the traditional skills of hedge-laying and ploughing, to recognise the local experts in the area through the competitions while encouraging more people to keep these skills going.

It is recognised that it is not easy these days to learn to plough, with less people working on the land gone are the days when the skill would be passed from generation to generation.

To give everyone a chance to have a go, there is a tractor and a plough available on match day for anyone to have a try at ploughing with the help of an expert. Also on the day, visitors will have the opportunity to try the popular field sport of laser clay pigeon shooting.

The Lasersport System uses real deactivated 12 bore shotguns fitted with state of the art electronic wizardry.

The plastic clays, fitted with a reflective strip, are fired from a standard electronic trap and participants aim at them just as they would under normal clay pigeon shooting conditions.

There is none of the painful ‘kickback’ that you might experience from using real shotguns.

There will also be demonstrations on how to put up a stock-proof fence and seasoned log stacking.

Admission is free, refreshments will be available.