Blackthorn, Billhooks and Protest - Hedges and What They Really Mean

Voices of the Countryside

Patrick Galbraith learns about hedges and what they actually mean. With the help of Dr Leonard Baker, who is an expert on enclosure and those who rose up against it, and Richard Negus, a Suffolk-based conservationist, Patrick discovers that the history of the hedge is thorny and very political.

In the nineteenth century hedges were seen as symbols of oppression and across the country they were torn down and were even paraded through the streets while ‘rough music’ was played.

But the countryside is always changing and in the years that followed the War, just a couple of centuries after farmers had hedges planted in the name of agricultural improvement, they were grubbed out for the very same purpose. Bigger fields were thought to be better.

Nothing stays the same though and currently, hedgelayers like Richard – who has just finished writing his first book – are out there in the fields with their billhooks and chainsaws, restoring old hedges and planting new ones. If we want nature to recover, Richard believes that good hedges are vital.

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Richard Negus' debut book is available to pre-order here