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Hedge Walk led by Joe Hashman

Sun, 20 Nov

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Meet at War Memorial

This one hour walk is the first Hedge School event. We will be looking at the range of hedges we have in town, their history and the benefits they bring practically, aesthetically and for wildlife. Meet at the War Memorial, Park Walk. Open to all.

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Hedge Walk led by Joe Hashman
Hedge Walk led by Joe Hashman

Time & Location

20 Nov 2022, 11:00

Meet at War Memorial, Park Walk, Shaftesbury SP7, UK

About the Event

Some notes from Angela King & Sue Clifford ...

Hedge School

These two words conjure up visions of a bucolic outdoor classroom where youngsters spend hours exploring the fields, woods and hedgerows, letting nature be their teacher. In fact they were basic places of education -

they existed in Ireland from the 1700s - 1830s, mostly in disused barns and byres. We just like the name!

Close observation of nature is enriching and necessary to ensure that any interventions we make are beneficial for wildlife. In and around Shaftesbury we have hedges of all ages, relict field hedges, or the clue of a few old trees standing in line like sentinels, and boundary hedges, parish or county often on banks with ditches. These should be protected because the older they are, the greater the diversity of wildlife within them. 

By taking hedge walks in town with local experts and practitioners and looking at what surrounding farmers/landholders are doing by thickening up their hedges, making connecting corridors for wildlife etc we can pass on information about good practice. Together we will learn why garden hedges are usually better for wildlife than fences, how we can manage them to benefit birds for nesting and feeding, blossom for insects/pollinators (dormice) and hedgerow bottoms for small mammals, and especially,  hedgehogs.

We will discover and disseminate information about the best species to plant and manage to capture pollution from vehicles, to deflect and baffle wind and absorb noise. 

Discover the location of the singing hedges and how to create more of them; how to age hedges and identify the plants and creatures that depend on them.

Disseminate information on when and how to cut/manage them…

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