A Northamptonshire hedger is ably assisted by a smiling land girl eager to learn the rural craft of hedge making and maintenance in this gentle instructional film, made by the Realist Film Unit for the Ministry of Agriculture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoprVhpOKIk
Transcript...
England is a country of mixed farms and where cattle and corn grow side by side. You need hedges to keep stock from straying from one field to another and to give them shade in summer and a windbreak in winter. But hedges need looking after. This one is too bulky and wastes a lot of the field space. This one is too tall and its shadow will ruin any crops growing near it. The taller it grows the thinner it gets at the bottom and then you get a result like this where the hedge is useless for keeping stock out and the farmer has to use a wire fence as well. One of the best ways of filling in gaps and making up a thin and scraggly hedge is laying or flashing. For this job the hedger needs a stout slasher for cutting out the briars and dead branches, a billhook for making the actual cuts or preaches, a pair of leather mittens when handling the thorn and a good sharp axe for the heavy chopping.
This is Deighton, a Northamptonshire hedger who was well-known in the district and does many of the local hedges today. His assistant is a land girl who is learning the job. She works ahead on the first rough clearance and Deighton follows on with his slasher getting rid of the tangle of briar and dead sticks from the hedge. This will leave him with only the live wood which is what he wants for the layers. Layering is a job for the autumn. The sap has ceased to rise and besides the bare branches let you see what you're doing. After clearing a short stretch Deighton can begin on the actual layering. He uses his billhook to make a clean cut unique stem near the ground and then bends it down away from the cut. The cut must not go too deep into the stem. It must leave a good tongue of wood to carry the sap but quite a small cut. Most branches will bend down easily to discourage cattle from eating the young shoots when they begin to grow. Deighton puts the thorny ends on the side away from the ditch as that side will need more protection. After preaching the branches Deighton carefully trims off the lip of each cut and tidies off the stump from which the branches grow otherwise moisture and rotting leaves would collect there and cause die back, that is destroy or weaken the new shoots.
Meanwhile his assistant is working ahead, clearing away the brambles. Here Deighton has reached a place in the hedge which was layered years ago but as you can see the preachers were made far too high above the ground. As he continues he has to remove any dead stumps that get in the way of his layers. This one is another relic of badly done layering.
Now for the stakes and binders to hold firm the length of hedge he has layered. Deighton makes a point of binding each day's work as he goes along in case anything happens to it overnight, so he always sees that he has a bundle of stakes and binders ready. Often he can get them from the hedge he's working on. Chestnut cut about five feet long makes good stakes. The binders are of hazel, elm or willow about seven or eight feet long. First he puts a good point on the bottom end of the stakes. Then he threads them in and out through the layers two or three feet apart to keep the thorn firm in position. The binders go at the top two at a time woven in and out of the stakes and twisted over each other to make a neat basket like finish. Then the stakes are driven in good and firm. The final touch is to level them off at the top and this is a neat way Deighton does it.
By now his assistant has finished her clearing and she's anxious to try her hand at the layering. As with any job the main thing is to get to know the tools and to learn how to handle them properly and not cut right through the thorn. Then she has to know where to make the cut - not too high but just above the ground level so the split runs right to the ground when the layer is bent over. Soon she'll be getting on quite nicely and be really useful in assisting Deighton in his job.
Layering certainly makes a good hedge and the finished job is a pleasure to look at. Next year shoots will have grown up from the stumps and all along the layered branches filling in the body of the hedge. This hedge will not need layering for another 15 or 20 years but it should however be trimmed. Before the first trimming the hedge should be allowed to grow for at least two years. A slasher is the best tool. Use the strong upward cuts as downward strokes would injure the plants where the cut is made.
Hedges are always trying to grow into trees. Trimming them each year helps to keep them bushy and make them grow at the bottom. A triangular shape is best sloping to a point at the top. It's easy to trim and stays stock proof at the base for a long time. At the end of the job the trimmings are collected into bonfires and make a good ash for the fields. If hedges are well layered and trimmed regularly they'll last for years and do their job properly. Their neat appearance is something a farmer can be proud of.
