Country Life
BY IAN MALL THERE are many winter occupations in the country that are carried on in the shelter of steading and barn and only a few that are plainly on view. Of these I have always been most intrigued by the work of hedgers. It is a skilled job and one given to those who can do it between autumn and the rise of the sap in the tree when, with the rush of new growth; sowing and planting sets a new tempo for life. Watch- ing a pair of hedgers at work last week I thought how easy it would be to simply top a hedge. It is a far different matter when the branches have to be selected, split, forced over and woven into a pattern that ensures a new barrier against venturesome sheep and bul- locks. Yard by yard, struggling with obstinate blackthorn, hawthorn, hazel, ash and briar, the work goes steadily along, today half-way down the field, tomorrow the length of the field with branches raked and put to fire. There is a nakedness about the scene afterwards but it is surprising how, once these bleak days of the early year have passed, the hedgerow recovers.
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