20 DECEMBER 1940, Page 14

December Hedge

A magnificent example of the hop-garden hedge, almost twenty feet high and composed almost entirely of hawthorn patched with dark rays of ivy, stands opposite another, planted of poplar. On clear, cold December afternoons the sunlight is almost scarlet. It pours through the naked fawn-cream branches of the poplar, clouding them with pink and touching the great hawthorn hedge into continuous flame. As it falls lower the intense red light strikes the two hedges almost horizontally, broadside on, and the long flanks of ripe haws burn with a reflected brilliance that is not their own. For a few moments, just before sunset, among the masses of polished ivy, they have the bright splendour of holly.