A Week on the Estate: 100 Nesting Boxes, Kilometres of Hedgerow & Centuries of Heritage

The Saturday Club are gaining all sorts of practical experience. In February, they enjoyed a fascinating enrichment session at St Leonard’s Church courtesy of Trevor Oliver. He shared his insights into the various materials and techniques that go into our beautiful local buildings. They also got hands-on with the fundamental and ancient basics of building and made mud bricks using local material, a press and plenty of elbow grease.

Out and about on the Estate, our team is working hard towards 2022’s target of 1.1km of new hedgerow, adding to more than 5km planted since 2019. As Damian Furlong discovered, if you stand around with a camera for long enough, someone will find you a proper job to do.

Planting is just part of the work. We also need to prepare the ground, which includes removing a lot of wood and wire from old fencing then laying a weed-suppressant mat. A few weeks later we plant the hawthorn saplings that will form the core of the hedge. Each sapling is protected by a spiral to protect it from hungry deer and livestock until it’s established. Used canes and spirals are recovered and re-used on new plantings.

Finally, we’re grateful to our Facebook followers for sharing their photos of our walking trails last month. We particularly enjoyed the pictures of our younger hikers loving the great outdoors. Thanks to Kirsty Louise with daughter Hetty and pooch Jakey, and to Zoe Nicholson and daughter Lottie. These joyous photos put a spring in our step.

Whether you’re new to our walking trails or just want to stretch your legs a bit further, click HERE to peruse our downloadable trail guides and HERE to claim your complimentary tea, coffee, soup and flapjacks.

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