SUPER scyther Andi Rickard, 51, of Wellington went across to Austria last week with two fellow competitors to represent the UK and Ireland in the Europameisterschaft in Handmähen (European Scythe Championships).

This event is held every two years and was this year attended by ten nations.

Scything in Europe is seen as a serious sport for young farmers and sees upwards of 1000 entrants going through five rounds of local and national competitions in order to qualify for one of the 120 places in the championship. Most of the competitors are in their early 20s and train five times a week for four months leading up to the event.

By contrast, scything in the UK is currently seen very much as a “hobbyist” activity used by conservation workers and the like, although there are increasing numbers of competitions being held each year around the country.

 Andi, a gardener and mother of three, said: “The whole event was run in German and due to a problem with translation I missed the starting command which resulted in me mowing less than my best and a final position of 24th place. But, it has made me extra determined to go to Slovenia in two years time and show them what I can really do”.

On her return from Austria Andi headed up to Countryfile Live at Castle Howard near York where she had been asked by the BBC to appear as a former Countryfile contributor in two stage sessions with Matt Baker, Helen Fospero and the show’s producer Joanna Brame.

“This was a really enjoyable experience and a great opportunity to talk about scything to a wider audience,” she added.