“I’ve always wanted to learn to lay a hedge” says Sam Myers of Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust. I am just one of those people who needs to get hands on to appreciate a skill and also I hate to see overgrown “hedges” (trees really) with dead trees and very little cover for small birds or wildlife.
So when Glenn Young, the regional Canal and River Trust Volunteer Co-ordinator, offered the Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust the opportunity of training I jumped at the chance, along with my husband John, and we set off in December for our first day on the River Weaver near Northwich. There we joined a dozen other volunteers who made us very welcome; some very experienced and a few of us who were really novice. Glenn got us initially to watch a team of three volunteers working on one section while he explained how it works. There are different approaches across the country but essentially the method is very similar. By the end of our first day, we had each been allocated to a separate team and had actually had a go at all of the steps in laying an upright or two. We enjoyed it so much that we returned a couple of weeks later for a whole day working on the same section and were really chuffed to see a result for our efforts.
Since then we have put our skill to good use on the Newport Canal at Meretown where there is about 100 metres of very overgrown hedge to lay by the towpath. At the SNCT’s December work party, a good number of people turned out and did the preparation work, stripping ivy and small branches off the lower part of the trunks up to head height along half of the section. Then on January 10th we put on an extra work party to tackle the first actual laying of the uprights, this time with training support from Roger Birch, one of Glenn’s CRT team. Over a dozen people turned out on an extremely windy cold day but, thankfully, it stayed dry. By the end of the day, everyone had had a go at the actual cutting and laying and our first 10 metres was looking very good.
Progress is quite slow at this stage as everyone is learning but we have two more work parties planned, in February and March, when we will speed up a bit as we get more experienced. Then we will have to take a break until the autumn to leave nesting birds to do their thing. Just what we want of course although they will gradually have a better place to do it!
For those interested in volunteering for future projects or who wish to find out more about the work of the SNCT, please visit their website at www.sncanal.org.uk
