Hedgerow Heroes in Gravenhurst

The CPRE Bedfordshire Hedgerow Heroes project arrived in Gravenhurst in December 2024.

The recreation ground is a large area used by the village for a variety of sports, activities, events and includes a newly opened children’s play area. It sits on the edge of the village, surrounded by fields on two sides and housing on the other two. It is owned by a charitable trust and managed by the Parish Council. The team had to deal with some very wet, windy and muddy weather but kept smiling!

The volunteers came from both the CPRE Bedfordshire Hedgerow Heroes team and from the local community. They planted around 100 metres of hedgerow.

As well as planting new hedgerow, the site at Gravenhurst had some established hedgerow in need of laying. This gave some of the volunteers the opportunity to learn a new skill.

Hedge laying involves partially cutting through and then bending the stems near ground level, without breaking them, to encourage them to produce new growth from the base, creating a thicker and healthier hedge.

The result was 70 metres of hedgerow laying over five days.