Two workshops in the first weeks of the year have given Friends of Chesworth Farm volunteers new ‘estate skills’ in preparation for a future hedge-laying project in nearby Tip Field (on the right entering from Queensway).
In the first of two events led by HDC countryside warden Ryan Allison, the group started by learning how to coppice the hazel stands in The Warren (the wooded enclosed area just down from the Volunteer Centre) which produced the stakes and binders needed for the hedge-laying job ahead.
The second part of the task was to repair a section of previously-laid hedge along Pedlars Way. As you can see from the pictures, the group did a great job.
In the second workshop, the volunteers honed their skills over an afternoon by cutting and laying Hazel, Dogwood and Blackthorn already growing in the Volunteer Centre garden into a new laid-hedge. The team were delighted with their progress – and Ryan can set up the future project in Tip Field with confidence.
Photographs: Ryan Allison, Tim Thomas and David Verrall
Friends of Chesworth Farm 
Well done for doing this training.I must have missed it if these two courses were advertised to the Friends however I would like to know if they would be run again to learn these skills. Thanks Geoffrey Bragg
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By: simongull on February 8, 2020
at 5:13 pm
Thank you for your comments Geoffrey. We had to keep the numbers low due to the nature of the tasks so advertising was indeed limited. However you may find one of the other local conservation groups run similar courses. Do you have some similar skills or experience already? If we do run something similar again we will remember to ask you too! Friends of Chesworth Farm
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By: lhct on February 11, 2020
at 11:22 pm