At the end of November we enrolled on a day course, free of charge, in making hurdles and a dead hedge in Bishop’s Castle. It was organised by ‘Going Wild in BC’, a lottery-funded charity that supports community-based activities aimed at improving the environment and to benefit wildlife (https://lightfootenterprises.org/going-wild-in-bc/)

A party of six met in a small patch of woodland at the upper playing fields in Bishop’s Castle under the guidance of Glyn, a senior volunteer and Lawrence, a professional woodsman. We were shown how to select and harvest hazel poles, how to set them in the ground and weave a hurdle. The morning was spent applying our new skills (to our great satisfaction) to build a fence to fill a potentially hazardous gap in the hedge high above the road. (fig 1)

After lunch we moved to the edge of the playing field to add to an existing dead hedge, which consists of two rows of loose hurdles between which is stuffed old branches, twigs and tree and shrub cuttings to a height of about a metre. This provides a wonderful habitat and shelter for many insects, birds and small mammals. A dead hedge in the garden can be added to as the branches and twigs settle, and can also function as an attractive windbreak.(fig 2)

With the right tools (a small saw and a stout pair of secateurs) it is surprising how easy it is to construct something so useful. Glyn’s and Lawrence’s guidance was excellent and we will certainly be putting what we learned into practice.

Austin Leach