Hedgerows

I was in Flanders recently enjoying the beautiful countryside around Ypres, it feels largely similar to the countryside in parts of the UK but with one major difference, the lack of hedgerows. In most country lanes in the UK visibility is limited by the hedgerows on either side of the road, whereas in Flanders there were wide views all around and ditches either side of the road instead. I really liked the openness of the terrain and also the ability to see approaching vehicles from far off.

It seems there are strict rules around hedgerows in the UK, and their main purpose is to provide a home for woodland creatures and to mark an ownership boundary. Searching online apparently there are also benefits for soil, carbon capture, they can provide wood fuel, and more. But if they are so important, why do our neighbouring countries not have them (or at least have much less of them)? And what’s the road safety angle here? I’m not a fan of blind corners on country lanes, but perhaps counter-intuitively hedgerows actually make us safer by moderating everyone’s speed?

Mmm, did something happen in Flanders that perhaps changed the landscape in a big way?

seriously though, hedges and walled areas were often as a result of the enclosure act where land was stolen from the majority and divided up amongst the rich minority. There are large areas of Lincolnshire, Suffolk and Norfolk where the hedges have been removed to enable massive fields with industrial scale farming. The resulting soil erosion is quite alarming.

Large parts of Lincolnshire never had them in the first place. The reclaimed bits weren’t fields until well after enclosure, there’s no ancient hedgerows, no ancient woodland (I know someone from the Wolds will be along shortly to point out it’s not all of Lincolnshire) but the fens have very little in the way of hedges. Aso, very little need to fence in livestock, it’s all vegetables.

Spectacular sunsets though, the skies are huge

I think road visibility is more down to simple verge maintenance than removal of hedges, in many cases you could have plenty of grass verge and a mature hedgerow but budget cuts means they grow out to the point passing HGVs are the only things stopping them growing over the road!

If we didn’t have hedgerows where would the retro youth find their grumble?

It has been illegal for farmers to remove hedgerows for almost 30 years. Almost all the field consolidation done in the UK was in the post war era with massive Min Ag grants to ensure increased production to end rationing. It is very lazy sterotyping to still state that farmers in the UK are removing hendgerows. Not maintaining them perhaps, but definitely not removing. I have personally been involved with the planting of many 10s maybe 100s of km of hedgerows on farms in the past 10 years too.

I would hazard a guess that for every km of hedgerow removed by farmers in the past 30 years there have been 1000 removed for infrastructure, housing and retail development.

A couple of weeks back was National hedgerow week and our charity wrote a couple of blog articles if anyone is interested. (many of the pictures used are of hedges I have personally planted)

https://stumpupfortrees.org/latest-news/posts/2024/may/national-hedge-week-celebrating-the-wonderful-world-of-hedges/

https://stumpupfortrees.org/latest-news/posts/2024/may/traditional-boundaries-of-wales/

https://stumpupfortrees.org/latest-news/posts/2024/may/national-hedgerow-week-hedge-hags-and-history/

I’m not a fan of blind corners on country lanes, but perhaps counter-intuitively hedgerows actually make us safer by moderating everyone’s speed?

I’m not a fan of our blanket application of a 60mph national speed limit whether a major trunk road or wedged between two hedges on a Cornish C road.

I think our national speed limit should be something much more modest based on an assumption there are road users other than motorists using them – which on a narrow , pavementless country lane there are – they’re a space for pedestrians, cyclist, horses and so on, as well as cars.  And then only have increased limits in accordance to what what provisions there are for other travellers. Increase the NSL if there are pavemnents, increase further if there are cycle lanes. I’d only have an NSL of 60 on roads that have those facilies for other road users as well as properly designed junctions etc

That would mean legislation would moderate speed which seems more logical than delegating it to hedgerows

Instead, counterintuitively, our current legislatino only  reduces the NSL where pavements and street lights are present despite the fact that there there are far greater conflicts risks between motorists and other road users when theyre absent.

I was in Flanders recently

I find absence of hedgerows to be a feature of many European countries, just from recent memory I’m thinking of Scandinavia, France,  Germany and Spain.

Indeed I suspect hedgerows are something that foreign tourists find part of the unique charm of the classic southern English landscape – as you go north they tend to be replaced by the quintessential dry stone wall countryside.

Depends where you are in France. Northern France, parts of Normandy and Brittany are famous for their ‘Bocage’ landscape. Not the classic hedgerow in our sense but often a bank (of rock and earth) with trees and shrubs on top. Performs all the same functions.

Hedgerows are hugely important for biodiversity

I live in Norfolk, a country which everyone thinks is just pan flat, but there are three distinct areas, the Fens to my west, pan flat, large field sizes and very little in the way of hedges and trees due to the fact much was under water, reclaimed and large field sizes for industrial farming, to my east, the Broads, again pan flat and formed by the peat cutting.

Where i live is rolling hills in the Breckland, with lots of hedgerows and trees, small field sizes and far less industrial farming, what strikes me when i ride especially at dusk or dawn, is that every ride is like a nature ramble, deer, owls, buzzards, kites, badgers, hares adders and much more. The minute i cross into the Fens or Broads, then this greatly reduces, almost stops.

What i have also noticed is that the areas without hedgerows and trees and have been much more prone to flooding recently. They are not just vital habitats, but wind breaks, they hold the soil together, they allow much greater biodiversity than a completely open landscape

Good description of Norfolk, some bootiful country side. Many happy holidays spent there