Monday 22nd November 2021 – Somerset Wildlife Trust will be running four practical one-day hedge-laying courses for people living in and around the Mendip area, led by professional hedge-layer Chris Claxton. The courses will be held at Torr Works quarry in East Cranmore and are being supported by the owners of the site, Aggregate Industries (AI), as part of the Mendip Habitats Fit for the Future project.
The full day courses (9.30am-3.30pm) will be held on Saturday 8th January, Sunday 16th January, Saturday 5th February, and Sunday 6th February (subject to change dependent on COVID) and costs £10 per person. The courses are always popular and numbers will be limited to ensure social distancing, so booking in advance is highly recommended.
Hedge-laying is a traditional management technique that involves partially cutting the branches (‘pleaches’) at the base of the tree, and then bending and securing them at an angle so the tree grows sideways to form a thick and bushy hedgerow. Laying the stems down like this invigorates growth, so any gaps in the hedge are filled. Healthy hedges provide effective shelter for livestock, an important wildlife haven for birds and small mammals, and passageway for invertebrates to move safely through the habitat hidden from predators.
Hedge-laying is a physically demanding but very rewarding craft. The resulting hedges can help reduce soil erosion, capture pollutants such as fertilisers and pesticides running off fields, store carbon to help combat climate change, assist in reducing flooding, and provide food and nectar for many species too. Hedgerows are therefore excellent nature-based solutions for helping biodiversity improve, and helping to combat the effects of climate change. By linking other areas of habitat, sensitively managed hedgerows can play an important role in providing the network of habitats nature needs to recover.
Mendip Habitats Fit for the Future project is the third SWT project in the Mendip area funded through The Wildlife Trusts and Aggregate Industries Local Partnership Fund. The project includes undertaking critical woodland management work at Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Cheddar Wood Nature Reserve to increase habitat quality for dormice, wildflowers and many species of butterfly, as well as working to restore calcareous and neutral grassland habitats adjacent to AI’s Callow Rock and Torr Works quarries. In addition, the project is funding the training for local volunteers to learn the traditional management technique of hedge-laying.
Josh Goodwin, Aggregate Industries' Biodiversity and Restoration Advisor (South) said: 'We are really pleased to be able to work with Somerset Wildlife Trust to improve a variety of important habitats in Mendip, as well as helping local people to engage with nature and learn traditional habitat management skills like hedge-laying'.
If you are interested in joining in with a hedge-laying course in winter 2022, please visit https://www.somersetwildlife.org/events to book. Attendees will need to wear suitable outdoor clothing and sturdy boots.
ENDS
For interviews and further information please contact Kirby Everett on 01823 652413 or kirby.everett@somersetwildlife.org, or Lucy Mannion on lucy.mannion@somersetwildlife.org
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About Somerset Wildlife Trust
Somerset Wildlife Trust is a nature conservation charity. Its purpose is to restore and protect the populations of species across the county and the habitats they call home. Climate change is one of the greatest threats to nature, natural habitats and the ecosystems that support our life on earth. Our aims are to help address both the ecological and climate crises and put nature back into people’s lives.
Nature reserves and protected sites on their own are not enough. In order to reverse the decline in species’ diversity and abundance, and create resilient landscapes and habitats for wildlife and for people that can adapt to climate change, we need to:
- encourage and support landowners to manage their land positively for nature; create more space for nature;
- connect wildlife-rich spaces across the wider landscape to create a robust Nature Recovery Network for Somerset; and
- create a movement of people – at least 1 in 4 – that take action for nature’s recovery across Somerset as part of Team Wilder.
This is at the core of our new 10-year strategy. Nationally the Wildlife Trusts are calling for at least 30% of land to be managed positively for nature by 2030. What we do in Somerset must contribute to that national ambition. You can read our full 10 year strategy, Wilder Somerset here.