Traditional arts

So, this was very cool.

We cut the hazel stakes and binders at one of the other sites. I might have managed to find one of each, but they had quite a lot so clearly others were more successful.

Then, what we did was cut nearly all the way through the base of the trunks of the blackthorns and laid them down. This involved some pruning and some kind of plaiting twiggy branches into the other branches in an attempt to make it neat.

I was not working on this section, but I think it looked especially neat. Alex seemed especially good at getting the twigs to tangle in and down.

We left the ash trees standing - in the hope that they can survive the die-back. Clever Ian told us that a hedge becomes a hedgerow when it has other features in it, such as trees. Some were skeptical but I was not - and he is quite correct.

We also did not get rid of the old bamboo canes that had supported the little blackthorns when they were babies - Ian said that creatures might have made homes inside them.

Once you have your blackthorn laid, you hammer in the stakes at half-metre intervals then plait the binders through them, as a support to keep the stakes secure.

The blackthorn grows up creating a dense mass of spikes, leaves and berries for wildlife - and the stakes and so on help to ensure that the fence is stockproof.

There's a good description here.

Reserve Officer Daisy had a collie called Sparky. She was fox-red and white with one blue and one brown eye and a very sweet nature. She is a working dog and Daisy spends half of her time looking after sheep (which I think she prefers).