Hedge laying at Alderley Edge on 17th December 2017

Six of us braved the cold wet weather forecast and met in the NT car park next to the Wizard Inn at 9:30 for a day's hedge laying at Hill Top Farm.  We drove to the worksite in one car and the ranger's 4x4.  The hedge being laid was new to MNTV and had been started last week by Chester NTV and (on a different day) the Sale & Altrincham Volunteers.

Andy S and Martin were hedge laying newbies and ranger Tim gave a helpful five minute intro to the craft.  Hedges are always laid uphill to minimise the strain on the trees' cut joints.  Today's hedge was a mixture of hawthorn and blackthorn.  The latter has wickedly sharp thorns that are to be avoided at all costs!

Throughout the day, Daniel hedge laid with Martin and Christine hedge laid with Andy S.  Andy H and Adrian got the bonfire going after a lot of perseverance and we were able to burn all the brash we cut.  At elevenses and at lunch we all ate slices of Daniel's Christmas Tree cake - topped with green icing and Smarties baubles.

You won't find a cake like this in the shops!

Thankfully the weather was drier than forecast and we worked on the sheltered side of the hedge.  All afternoon we had a robin for company.  We reached a natural stop at 2:30pm when we had finished laying the trees we had cut and the ones that last week's groups had left unlaid, and then turned the fire in.

Today was our 47th workday of 2017.  Thank you to all members of the group for making the year a success, for the fun we've had on workdays and for the valuable work we've done for the Trust.

Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2018.

Daniel Black
MNTV Chairman