Sadly in February 2020, Alan passed away after losing his battle with cancer.
Having spent over six decades working the woods, Alan made his last hurdles a few weeks before his 83rd birthday. He was one of the last traditional hurdlemakers, working full-time making hurdles in the wood where the hazel was coppiced with the skills and tools passed down from father to son.
The legacy he leaves is to have carried hurdlemaking of the highest standard into the 21st Century, taking on the woods managed by the Davis family from Milborne St Andrew and continuing the professionalism that they had exhibited and the expertise that had been passed down through the generations.
Alan was immensely passionate about the craft; he took great pride in his work and brought pleasure to visitors to his displays at fairs and country shows and the customers who bought his work. He is greatly missed.
Steve continues to make a few hurdles in his spare time, please contact him on 0771 717 7885. We regret that we are unable to demonstrate at fairs and shows at this time.

Alan and Steve Brown are the sixth and seventh generation of the family to make hurdles and can trace the trade in the family back to the 19th Century.

Hurdles are ideal for use as a fence, windbreak or border edging.
They are also suitable to be used for climbing plants to grow up.

Hurdles can protect young hedges...

...or, as in this case, make an effective natural boundary.

Traditional sheep hurdles are a variation of a standard hurdle for use as lambing pens or for folding sheep. Note the 'twilly hole' which is the gap in the hurdles to allow shepherds to carry a number of hurdles at one time.