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Tattered and Torn: Changing Hedgerows of Britain
| Article
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19305 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
6 / 1991 |
4,058 Words |
| Author
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Bryan and Cherry Alexander
Bryan and Cherry Alexander are free-lance photojournalists
based in England. |
What could seem more natural than the gentle network of hedges and small woodlands that lies across much of the most beautiful parts of the British Isles? But now this net, seemingly thrown by some celestial fisherman, is tattered and torn. Indeed, some believe that ours may be the last generation to enjoy its beauty.
But the hedgerows are not natural features; they are part of the manmade landscape, evidence of a working field environment that may have been in use as long as five thousand years. As such, they are always in a state of evolution. However, since the end of the Second World War, the hedgerows have seemingly been under attack. A report by the Countryside Commission and Hunting Technical Services estimates that the length of hedgerows in England and Wales was reduced by about 190,000 miles, or 22 percent between 1947 and 1985. It also showed an acceleration of the losses from 2,600 miles per year in the late 1940s to 4,000 miles per year in the 1980s, with the greatest recent losses in East Anglia and the East Midlands.
Changing patterns of rural life
What are the reasons for the demise of the hedgerow after such a long history of utilization and careful maintenance? Is modern farming destroying a beautiful natural resource and, with it, much of the flavor of English rural life? Or is it, as some argue, merely eradicating a redundant and archaic element?
Running parallel with the loss of hedgerows is the loss of jobs for farm workers. One farm management consultant reckons that today's technology is such that the farmer is capable of managing up to five hundred acres of cereals without employing any permanent help. On many farms, this is an economic necessity. For example, gross margins in the cereal sector are now virtually static. To cut costs, the farmer sheds labor in favor of specialized machinery and employs contractual labor only when he needs it. Often these contractors are themselves small farmers. In fact, one out of every five farmers in Britain today necessarily holds a second job. The most popular employment is contract labor on other peoples' farms.
This employment pattern has prompted fears for the well-being of the rural environment. Previously the slack periods in the farming year were used for tasks that today could be termed environmental management: hedging, ditching, forestry work, and maintaining farm buildings. Sadly, these are the first jobs to be dispensed with when the farm labor force is
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