Cutting With The Best

In recent years Wirral Countryside Volunteers have been expanding their activities with more tasks being organised and a larger number of volunteers attending these events. The group has had an increase of 50% in participation and was starting to be short of hand tools for those who turned up to help. The award of a Voluntary Community Action Wirral Community Grant meant two pairs of professional quality loppers could be purchased. The loppers will be used throughout the winter season for hedge trimming, scrub removal, pond clearance, hazel coppicing and hedgelaying projects at various sites in Wirral. These professional loppers will hopefully last a long time and give a clean cut. 

There has been expansion of interest in all the volunteer activities but especially in hedgelaying. Twenty-five plus have turned out to the last few free hedgelaying training events which aim to let the public have a go at hedgelaying and to gain some new recruits to the group. Several of the group members already have considerable hedgelaying skills, reflected by two first and two second places being awarded in local hedgelaying matches this season.

At this year’s free training event, in addition to the group’s in-house skills, support will come as usual from the Cheshire Ploughing and Hedgecutting Society, who keep us to the local Cheshire style and some professional jobbing hedgelayers from the National Hedgelaying Society. So it’s a real chance to cut with some of the best.

“Since the Wirral Countryside Volunteers started in 1985 they have restored over two miles of Wirral’s hedgerows. They are becoming more proficient at the job and gaining confidence in tackling trickier hedges.” said Paul Loughnane the group’s honorary secretary. “There is something very gratifying and satisfying in untangling the hedge stems, selecting the right ones and giving them a clean cut to bend over to create a living and self-renewing fence.

In October, Liverpool John Moores University Conservation Society brought a small group of students to New Ferry Butterfly Park. They enthusiastically under took a broad range of projects including scything the calcareous grassland, pond clearance, removal of rough vegetation and weeding the lengths of hedge they planted last year.  A few even had a go at hedgelaying, christening the loppers. Emma Heneghan, Social secretary, said “It was great to get involved in the different jobs that were being done. We learnt new skills and techniques and it was great to get involved in hedgelaying.” The new loppers made the job easier giving a professional finish to the hedge.

Further details of the free Cheshire style hedgelaying course on Sunday 2nd November at Barnston: contact Paul on 07527570471. Visitors and cutters welcome.