A love letter to hedgerows
While Hedgeuary may be over, the month of love for all things hedge-related, CPRE’s Hedgerow Heroes continue to be hard at work up and down the country, come rain or shine (and there’s been a lot of rain) tending to their hedge friends and partners.
Hedgeuary, a most storied tradition now in its fourth year, was developed by the youth-led nature recovery group, Youngwilders, to encourage people to plant and lay hedges across the month of February. Indeed, we recently collaborated with the group for ‘Hedgentines Day’ (puns almost over). We’re hoping it will make it into the roster as a national holiday. But before I tell you more about that, let’s go back to where it all began…
‘How did you first meet?’: a brief history of hedgerows
Hedgerows are lines of shrubs and trees, often bordering fields, and have existed for centuries. The ‘ancient’ bit here is important, as estimates suggest that hedgerows have been around as some sort of field boundary and a way to enclose common grazing land – and also shelter farm animals – since the Bronze Age! So if you’re looking for a mature partner, and one that you know will protect you, the humble hedgerow ticks the box.
And yet, we’ve lost 50% of our hedgerows in the last 75 years. Research by Dr. Max Cooper in the late 60s showed that losses were already at approximately 10,000 miles per year. That’s about 150 times as wide as the English Channel. Basically, we’ve lost a lot of hedgerows.
The early years: CPRE’s campaign
It was off the back of this study that CPRE launched one of our most enduring countryside campaigns in 1970 – part of a wider, century-long mission to protect the landscapes that shape England’s character – calling to protect hedgerows through preservation orders (laws that criminalise their cutting down without approval).
Barbara Maude, a beekeeper, environmental journalist and member of CPRE Oxfordshire, highlighted hedgerows’ effects on ‘many species of birds, animals, insects, wildflowers, and plants’ during the unveiling of the campaign. In case you were looking for more, here’s another reason why you should love hedgerows: they make excellent wildlife corridors and boost biodiversity.
25 years later and our campaign for hedgerow protection came to fruition in 1997, with groundbreaking laws to stop hedges being torn out. Now, landowners would have to notify local planning authorities of any intention to remove a hedgerow, which would also be logged on a public register. Local authorities would then have 42 days to decide if the landowner could go ahead. The new legislation wasn’t as robust as it could have been, but it was still a landmark moment, thanks to the unrelenting fight of CPRE, our members and supporters.
A long-term love: today’s relationship
That brings us neatly into the twenty-first century, where our campaign to save hedgerows continues to broaden. In 2021 we launched the Hedgerow Heroes project. This involves working with local people, farmers, conservation experts and nature lovers to connect communities with the environment and help regenerate the fabric of the countryside. Hedgerows are a beautiful part of our landscape (so they’ve got a pretty face as well) and bring people together whilst also improving their wellbeing. I can personally attest to the achy joys of gently tapping a billhook against a tree to lay it sideways or sticking your hands in the soil to plant a hawthorn sapling, all alongside other people who care about nature. Not to mention the pleasure of taking a hot drink break, an essential hedge laying tool through the unpredictable British weather, while admiring your handiwork.
Thirteen local CPRE groups are currently involved in Hedgerow Heroes, offering a diverse range of activities such as education on the traditional craft of hedge laying; exploring what makes a healthy hedgerow; teaching children and young people about the value of hedgerows; and most importantly, supporting wildlife through practical action. So far this season, we’ve planted over 69,000 hedge trees, and racked up over 7,700 hours of volunteering on over 80 sites, in collaboration with over 100 other organisations. Those are some impressive stats! Add them to your dating profile now.
People who celebrate together: stay together
As part of our centenary year – marking 100 years of standing up for the countryside – we’re aiming to reach a whopping 100 miles of volunteer-led hedgerow restoration as part of our centenary year celebrations. An amazing community effort! Hedgentines Day was a part of this, linking up young people via CPRE’s local groups, Youngwilders and The Conservation Volunteers, in three different sites in Cheshire, Kent and Hampshire to put over 3,000 saplings in the ground (and muck about in the mud at the same time!). As Jack, co-founder of Youngwilders, put it: ‘We’re playing an important role in reversing the UK’s historic destruction of hedgerows, all the while absorbing carbon and restoring our landscape’s ecological connectivity’. There’s another green flag: hedgerows are incredible at mitigating climate change, by reducing flooding and carbon emissions. Yep, they’re keepers.
That’s 56 years of being ‘official’ with hedgerows – from our 1970 campaign launch right up to today’s Hedgerow Heroes – and many more years of unofficial courting. Aren’t all relationships like that? So, thank you to hedgerows, our lifelong partners. Thanks for sticking with us through thick and thin, making the world a more lovely place, supporting our non-human neighbours, protecting future generations and shaping thousands of lives for the better.
We love you.
