Hedgelaying - Leaders Phill and Jeff
The weather
forecast was unequivocal, rain, and plenty of it spreading in
from the West. Some of us were hoping that they'd got it wrong
and we'd escape without a soaking but this wasn't the case. Almost
as soon as we had arrived and planned our day of hedgelaying it
began, gently at first but with a penetrating persistence.
Undaunted by the conditions our team of nine volunteers made the best of things and worked on a length of hedge adjacent to the road.
We were working on the Kemerton Estate in South Worcestershire. The entire 1,000-acre estate, owned by the Darby Family, is currently the subject of a Countryside Stewardship agreement and if you wish to know more visit their website at www.kemerton.org
Volunteers who had never laid a hedge before were paired with someone who had and in this way we painstakingly reduced the thickness of each stem or pleacher with billhooks until they leaned over to the correct angle, about 35 degrees, without snapping off. The pleachers are then woven around stakes which provide some support and the top is finished with binders, lengths of whippy willow, which lock everything together. A website with useful information about hedgelaying can be found at www.hedgelayer.freeserve.co.uk
It's a challenging but rewarding task and
despite the difficult working conditions team members were pleased
with their day's work.
