CPRE Hedgerow Heroes project

April 2023 update:

With volunteer help we have planted 5.9km of new native hedgerow this season on 26 sites around Shropshire with the generous help of dozens of volunteers putting in hundreds of hours.

A huge grateful thank you to you all!

During the course of this year's project we also ran:

Two hedgerow management workshops for farmers/landowners on two sites
Nine hedgelaying training workshops on four sites
One coppicing workshop
We also went into 16 Shropshire primary schools with Hedgerow classroom/lessons and created a Hedgerow Story Sack for use with small children

The final event of this project will be a Field Names workshop on 20 and 21 April 2023.

We have put in a bid for a third year of Hedgerow Heroes funding via CPRE National Office. More information on that as it comes through soon.

Please sign up for our mailing list to get updated information and early offers for events and training.

CPRE Shropshire hedge project slideshow

Below is more information about our plans for hedgerow creation and restoration in Shropshire, walks and talks on all things hedgerow and hedgerow maintenance training workshops for 2022/23.

Our Hedge Project leaflet (pdf) can be downloaded here (6mb).

Hedge Creation

Why not volunteer to help us plant new hedgerows in South Shropshire this Autumn/Winter!

Hedge-laying workshops

Learn traditional hedge-laying with an expert with our free workshops. Sign up here!

Hedge walks, talks & workshops

Take part in a hedgerow workshop, walk or talk

Access recordings of our 2021/22 hedge talks here

Why a hedgerow project and what will it deliver?

CPRE Shropshire is taking part in a national CPRE Hedgerow Heroes project and will be tackling some 'boots on the ground' practical work as well as organising walks and talks on the subject of our wonderful hedgerows! We are now in Phase 2 (2022/23) of our project,Phase 1 having been delivered in 2021/22.

Why are we doing this?

As elsewhere in the UK, and as evidenced by a glance at George Foxall’s Field Name maps (based on the Shropshire tithe maps of 1847), there have been huge losses of our hedgerows over the last century as well as a decline in overall sensitive management.

Along the county’s roads and lanes, and in conjunction with verges, hedges are essentially a ‘woodland edge’ habitat with all the potential ecological benefits that brings – they are really important wildlife corridors as well as having the capacity to store carbon, help prevent flooding and erosion, providing shelter and windbreaks.

What are the aims of Phase 2?

We aim in Phase 2 to:

Create 3km of new hedgerow creation on selected sites (the planting will be done by volunteers) in the autumn/winter of 2022/23 (More here) - NB the 3km was upgraded to 5.5km in September 2022
Run at least 7 free hedge-laying workshops for beginners, teaching the basics of the art/craft of hedgelaying including tool maintenance. Please sign up to our waiting list for the workshops if you are interested in taking part.
Run walks, talks and workshops on all matters relating to hedgerows including hedgerow management, coppicing and field names
Work with 16 Shropshire primary schools delivering hedgerow lessons to children and produce Story Sacks for young children to be lent out by libraries