Hedge Laying at Low Lindrick Farm: 12-03-2013

Once more unto the pleach!

Tuesday was a momentous day.  First my triumphant return to NCV activity, from which I have been absent for far too long and, second, we were hedge laying! 

So to be clear:

The location: Low Lindrick Farm

The weather: Crisp but sunny

The activity: Hedge Laying

We were met at the farm by Charlie, a professional hedge layer and our tutor for the day.  Once assembled we were ferried to the site, which I discovered on arrival was also a competition site, conveniently and professionally laid, and we would be carrying on laying the rest of the hedge; so - no pressure there then!

Charlie launched into the safety brief and introduced us to the tools that are used in hedge laying.  Bill hooks, axes, bow saws, mallets, loppers and, if all else fails, a chainsaw.  All equipment we are familiar with... So far so good!  

 

The tools of the hedge layer's trade - sharpened and at the ready. 

Charlie then set us our first task of the day, stripping out excess branches/twigs from the hedge to leave suitable straight stems for laying. Even better, most of us are never happier than when lopping and sawing and we spent the first half of the day stripping out and tidying around the base of the hedge.

Expert tuition from Charlie, for the novice hedge 

layers, on how to 'front up' a hedge ready for laying. 

Jan demonstrates how to check your hedge is well 'fronted' - 

it has to be almost completely scalped to allow a person to fit through

Just before lunch we were stopped for the second demo, pleaching and laying the hedge... Crunch time!  We watched Charlie demonstrate the techniques, then returned to finish up stripping out before stopping for lunch which was spent in the shelter of the adjacent woodland where we shared flapjack and admired our surroundings.  The various styles of laying were discussed (we were learning the Yorkshire style) and it was decided that perhaps we were creating the Nidderdale style.

When we returned to work we were armed with bill hooks and ready to start laying! Charlie definitely made it look easy, first you make your pleach at a height roughly twice the height of the stem diameter.  When Charlie did this it took a few well placed strokes with the bill hook; when it was our turn, suffice it to say that on the larger specimens this took a little longer and the end result was, for want of a better word, feathered!  (At least it was for me.)

 Ros K and Angela start pleaching and 

laying the remaining stems.

Once the pleach is successfully in place the stems can be laid to the back of the hedge line.  It wasn't easy but with each pleach (nicely rhyming!) the quality of the cutting was improving.  After a few stems were down it was time to start weaving. This was achieved by hammering (hand sharpened!) stakes into the line of the hedge and then weaving the stems between them. Again the theory is simple enough but in practice manhandling blackthorn and hawthorn in a direction it doesn't want to go is not for the faint hearted. As evidence I found scratches all over my arms and legs at the end of the day.  

Chris G and Ros E quietly contemplate the pleaching 

and weaving they have done. Although it looks as if they 

have completely destroyed the hedge it should regenerate 

into a thick, stock-proof barrier (they hope!)

Hannah and Dave ended up with an 

impenetrable hedge - top marks 
for these two experts!

John stands back to admire the 
newly laid hedge as it takes shape.

Charlie was on hand throughout the day, chainsaw at the ready for the tougher stems and dispensing aid and advice to the novices among us. The work was carried out along the hedge in sections (two of us to each) until by 4pm the task was completed and the site tidied. All in all a fabulous day, with new skills learned in excellent company and we must extend our heartfelt thanks to Charlie who dealt with our questions and pleas for help with patience and enthusiasm.

That's all from me for now, till next time, 

Em 1

Editor's note - it was decided that hedge laying blog entry was ripe for an additional glossary. Em 1 starts us off with the following:

To pleach - to make a diagonal cut close to the base of the stem

Pleaching - the process of making the cut

Pleacher - one who is pleaching

Pleachee - the stem to receive the pleaching cut

Impleachable - a stem capable of being pleached

Un-impleachable - a stem incapable of being pleached

A hedge laying related song from bygone days: ‘Son of a pleacher man’

Any suggested puns on the word pleach should be submitted in the comments section!