Dead hedging at Spurrell’s Wood, and what a dead hedge!

A team of 12 merry volunteers congregated at Spurrell’s Wood to perform coppicing and dead hedging. It was very mild weather for the time of year, and after a cloudy start, the sun broke through rather spectacularly on the work we had done.

Trevor started us off, instructing us which trees needed coppicing and where to start laying the dead hedge. Trevor, John R and Vision began coppicing some Hazel trees with the power saw, and sorting the wood on thickness. Some went to the log piles already dotted about the woods, while the longer thinner branches and poles were stacked up for the dead hedge.

The hedge went in on the edge of the footpath, in order to section off the deeper wooded area, and give the ground layer flora and fauna there a chance to regenerate without disturbance. And like the log piles, a dead hedge provides a habitat in its own right.

The dead hedgers – Susan, Carol, Val, Andrew G, Andrew S, and Peter R – laid most of the cut branches horizontally, weaving them around the existing tree line, which was supplemented by stakes made from the more substantial coppiced wood.

Everyone took a lot of pleasure in seeing the dead hedge take shape. There were a good few 'wows' expressed throughout the morning at the sight of it.

A separate group, comprised of Alan, David H and David R, with some assistance from Trevor, went at an area of Stinging Nettles with scythes and rakes, clearing a patch, where selective thinning of trees was carried out to allow more light to penetrate, to create a wildflower and woodland grass area.

At break, Trevor shared news about the Felbeck Trust, including a grant to acquire new electric mowers and scythes, to replace our fossil-fuelled mowers and supplement our hand scything efforts – everyone felt these would be of great benefit. He also discussed potential partnerships with other organisations with the same goal as the Trust.

Andrew Gorton

October 17th 2024