Cotswold Chatterblog

Date: November 7, 2007

Saturday 17th November  Cutting 09.00 - 14.00  - Prize Giving 15.30 approx.
The Ford Bridge Ground, Ebrington, Chipping Campden,Gloucestershire

This Competition is taking place at Ebrington by kind permission of D E and D M Drinkwater and Sons and is supported by the National Hedgelaying Society.

There will be Four Classes - (1) Open - (2) Junior, Beginners and Novice -(3) Veterans - (4) Beginners Pairs. Hedging will be in the Midland Style and Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each class. Spectators are very welcome.

The National Hedgelaying Society is committed to conserving hedgerows through traditional skills. Hedgerows are a prominent feature of the North Cotswolds landscape and help to define the uniqueness of the British countryside and are an important wildlife habitat. Some hedgerows mark historical boundaries such as parishes and manors. These hedges can predate the period of enclosures in the 18th and 19th centuries when most of the hedgerows that we see today were planted to enclose the open fields and sheepwalks. Hedgerows require sympathetic management if we are to preserve them for future generations.

Hedgelaying is a traditional form of management in the North Cotswolds and helps to keep the hedges vigorous and healthy while also providing a very effective stock-proof barrier.

The way hedges are laid depends on where the animals are kept, what kind of animals are kept, the local hedge plants, altitude, wind or snow expectations etc. so each region in the UK has it’s own traditional style.
The Midland style, also known as Bullock style, was designed to keep big heavy bullocks in their field. This style is mainly found in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire - traditional beef rearing areas. There is a slight variation for a Worcestershire style.

The main points are:-

• Stake sides face road or plough land
• Brush is the animal side to stop them eating new growth
• Hedge slopes towards the animals, as stakes are driven in behind the line of the roots
• Strong binding is below the top of the hedge

(The Worcestershire style has a single binding and the Brush is trimmed level with the binding)

For further information and Registration Forms contact:-
Cotswold Conservation Board
Mark Connelly
Fosseway
Northleach
Gloucestershire
GL54 3JH
Telephone 01451 862006
E Mail mark.connelly@cotswoldsaonb.org.uk
www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk

Photos used with kind permission of the National Hedge Laying Society http://www.hedgelaying.org.uk/

Tags: animals | chipping campden | farming | gloucestershire | ebrington | countryside | competition

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