Are you Matchfit?

I have often said there is rarely a dull moment in Saltaire and that was proven again the other day. I had to pop home at lunchtime to speak to my decorator. (Yes, I'm having lots of work done in the house. It will be nice when finished, though the mess on the way is testing.) I took the scenic route round through Salts Mill yard.  There were lots of people peering over the wall into the allotments and lots of flags too. Your roving reporter is always keen to find out what's going on so I asked someone with a clipboard, who looked as though he might know!

The answer was that this was a competition, under the banner 'Are you Matchfit?'  Shipley College was hosting the final of the Horticultural Skills element. Teams of students from various colleges' horticulture training departments were given a plot of land 4m x 3m and, in four hours, working to a drawing and specification, had to:
lay turf, plant a tree, cut and plant a border, choosing from an array of plants supplied - and add a surprise element of their own.

It was a beautiful day for it and they were all beavering away. I'll have to go back and take a photo of the finished results. (Hopefully they will leave them, at least for a while).

I have looked up the 'Matchfit Skills' website - and there are lots of similar vocational competitions being held throughout Yorkshire and Humberside in various disciplines: Business and IT; Construction; Cultural and Creative Arts; Engineering; Hair and Beauty; Health, Social and Child Care; Hospitality and Catering; Science; Sport and Public Services. They are aimed at inspiring and stretching the students studying vocational courses in our Further Education colleges. I'm sure these folk would be able to take pride in what they were achieving.