#217: Hedgelink

Hedgelink is a useful site to go to for anyone teaching about the value of hedgerows.

Hedgelink brings together organisations and individuals with a love of hedgerows. We share knowledge and ideas to encourage and inspire everyone to take action to manage, protect and conserve our hedgerows for the future.

They provide a range of resources on the value of hedgerows, which are not always guaranteed to remain where they have been for (potentially) centuries. There is plenty of information elsewhere on the importance of hedges in creating the enclosures of land and marking boundaries.

They have a Hedge Hub with all related resources. This CPRE guide is a useful one, for example, as it describes the techniques for investigating the origins and age of hedgerows by looking at the variety of plant species they contain. This might include an investigation into Hooper's Rule for ageing a hedge.

Wikipedia explains more

Hooper's rule (named for Dr. Max Hooper) is based on ecological data obtained from hedges of known age, and suggests that the age of a hedge can be roughly estimated by counting the number of woody species counted in a thirty-yard distance and multiplying by 110 years.

Max Hooper published his original formula in the book Hedges in 1974. This method is only a rule of thumb, and can be off by a couple of centuries; it should always be backed up by documentary evidence, if possible, and take into account other factors. Caveats include the fact that planted hedgerows, hedgerows with elm, and hedgerows in the north of England tend not to follow the rule as closely. The formula also does not work on hedges more than a thousand years old. 

The founding father of contemporary Local Studies W.G. Hoskins, also pointed out that the number and types of species vary from county to county, which casts further doubt on Hooper’s Rule as an accurate dating tool. So unless it can be verified with historic records, it cannot stand alone.

Hooper's scheme is important not least for its potential use in determining what an important hedgerow is, given their protection in The Hedgerows Regulations (1997; No. 1160) of the Department of the Environment, based on age and other factors.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge

Hedges are of particular significance in the landscape in Devon - see link here (PDF download)

#151: CPRE: the countryside charity

The latest in a series of posts on organisations who provide resources and run projects which may be of interest to those teaching the new GCSE Natural History specification, and may well also make good visiting speakers for schools offering the new specification.

CPRE were previously known as the Campaign to Protect Rural England, but is now known as the countryside charity.

They have had a series of campaigns running for many years on the theme of protecting the countryside and raising awareness of the importance of some of the everyday elements of the countryside which people may not realise are of particular importance. These include campaigns on hedgerows, which are thereatened with removal in many locations.

In addition to their national website and policy work, they also have local groups focussing on specific local issues.

They have just released their latest report: a 2023 study on Local Green Spaces.

#17: Hedging their bets

More news of mistakes by government recently, this time referring to hedgerow planting as part of the new plans for supporting wildlife in the countryside. 

Hedgerows are an important habitat for a wide range of species, and are really important for biodiversity. Some are hundreds of years old - those in Devon which are an important feature of the landscape are over 800 years old.

There was apparently a typo in the document that was previously published...

CPRE is 'the Countryside Charity' and has a particular focus on hedgerows.

Their hedgerows campaign is calling for #40by50. 

But what does this mean?

From the CPRE website:

The government loves talking about tree planting and peatland restoration, but it seems to have forgotten our hedgerows. 

We’re campaigning for them to commit to a target for planting and restoring thousands of miles of hedgerows across the country.

'We need a 40% increase by 2050 at the latest.'

40: We want to see the hedgerow network increase by 40%. This number was recommended by the independent Climate Change Committee and is equivalent to about 120,000 miles in Britain – half way to the moon!

50: This is the time frame. We need a 40% increase by 2050 at the latest. This requires adding over 4,000 miles of new and restored hedgerows per year, starting now.

For those in need of a definition of hedges, here's a useful one:

A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties.

Top image: Alan Parkinson - shared under CC license - a hedge in Norfolk - love your local hedges...