Hedgelaying (photos)
Hedgelaying (photos)
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This vivid engraving was made in 1945 by Stanley Anderson, RA (1884-1966), a Bristol-born artist. The original is in the University of Michigan Museum of Art, USA.
The hedger must be working late, because the rooks are streaming into the trees to roost.
In the middle distance is a hayrick, not something one sees often in Britain nowadays.
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Although the hedgelayer's garb may have changed in the intervening 50-odd years, the billhook and axe at his feet are still part of the basic equipment needed today.
He would also have used a slasher to clear away surplus foliage at the beginning of the task. (See here for a picture of some.) These days, he would be as likely to use a chainsaw or powered trimmer.
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As you can see, the modern hedger's tools are much the same, except for the hard hat. (Picture by Anne Richards.)
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For more on tools, and hedgelaying in general, visit this page on the National Hedgelaying Society's Web site.
Bob Burgess has pictures of some of the varieties that were once available at A Load of Old Billhooks.
Paul Blisset, a professional hedgelayer, has a good article on the principles of it on his Web site. (This takes a while to load, because of the numerous photographs, but is worth the wait.)
The Wildberks site (here) gives more information on hedgerow management. BTCV has put its manual of hedgerow management on the Web.
We had our hedges laid by members of the South of England Hedgelaying Society. (See here for pictures of them in action.) Their visit was arranged through their chairman, Philip Strugnell, formerly the warden of Riddlesdown Common.
Coppicing
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It was also Philip who coppiced the stretch of Blackthorn hedge near Cobham Gate, in 1996. Here's how it looked immediately afterwards.
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This may seem like vandalism if you've not seen coppicing before but Blackthorn is a resilient plant. Like most broadleaved shrubs and trees, it responds to coppicing by sending out new shoots from the remaining stem (the 'stool').
The hedge is now growing more strongly than ever, but from the base, which was the point of the exercise. Indeed, six years later, Phil and his colleagues were able to come back and lay the resulting new growth (see here).
Coppicing is the traditional way of exploiting woodland, encouraging it to produce easily-gathered poles and other young wood for use as fuel and in constructing furniture, fences and buildings. There is a summary of methods here, on the Web site of the Local Woodland Products Initiative.