Highlights from our Hedgerow Heroes Project 2025

This year our volunteers planted 2.7km of new hedgerow and restored 380m existing through hedgelaying.

Over 190 volunteers have helped to enhance hedgerows across South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire, totalling a staggering 1200 volunteer hours.

Hedgelaying kicked off at Yate Common in October 2024. Volunteers got stuck in restoring the overstood hawthorn trees bordering the cycle path.

The first day of hedge planting at Lower Chew Forest. Just south of Bristol, this 422 acre site owned by Avon Needs Trees is being transformed into a mosaic of habitats to benefit nature. We are helping to restore 1.6km hedgerow, much of which was ripped out after WW11.

In November we visited a hidden gem in Bath known as ‘Smallcombe Nuttery‘. This copse of nut trees was planted in 2011 and is managed by volunteers from the Transition Bath group. We trained the volunteers in hedgelaying to restore the overgrown hedge bordering the site.

Volunteers used the excess brash from hedgelaying to create a ‘dead hedge’. This is a way to make a wildlife corridor out of material that would be otherwise wasted. Consisting of cut branches, brambles and ivy, the dead hedge eventually rots down, but can be topped up with cuttings every year.

In November, hardy volunteers kept warm by hedgelaying at Yate Common in the snow.

In December, volunteers at Lower Chew Forest powered through the mud and the damp to get more hedgerow whips in the ground. At lower points of the farm, the water-logged ground made for challenging planting conditions. As the hedgerows grow they will help to mitigate this flooding thanks to their network of roots.

In January, volunteers from Yatton and Congresbury Wildlife Action Group were trained in hedgelaying at Cobthorn Nature Reserve. With rare Greater Horseshoe Bats present in the neighbouring ancient woodland, this site is carefully managed and monitored for nature.

In the misty Mendips, local landowners were taught about funding available for planting and restoring hedgerows at our Landowner Event. Hedgelayer Mike Reed demonstrated the skill of hedgelaying and the vital role it plays in a hedgerow’s lifecycle.

Over the course of 3 days, volunteers planted 350m new hedgerow in Pill, North Somerset. Owned by cancer wellbeing charity Penny Brohn and managed by a social enterprise, this site is being enhanced for nature as well as providing a peaceful setting for clients.

By the end of January, volunteers completed hedgelaying at Yate Common. This immense 400m task began in 2022 during our first Hedgerow Heroes project!

In February, volunteers planted over 250m hedgerow at a livestock farm in Winscombe. As well as bordering a public footpath, this site is in close proximity to populations of dormice found in the nearby ancient woodland. Dormice rely on hedgerows as a dispersal corridor as well as food and shelter. The loss of the hedgerow network has led to their decline, as pockets of woodland become fragmented.

In March, volunteers gapped up hedgerow bordering St James Cemetery in Bath city centre. This mix of native species will bring more biodiversity to the site with the production of nuts and berries.

Thank you to all the Hedgerow Heroes who have volunteered over the past year!

See all the 2024-25 sites mapped on Google Earth here.

After our 3^rd year, we have now completed 5.85km of our 10km hedgerow creation/restoration goal, with an aim to reach this by CPRE’s centenary in 2026.