Bringing the Jubilee Hedges back to life

The hedges around the perimeter and through the middle of the Jubilee Wood form a valuable wildlife habitat.

Before the wood was planted, the hedges marked the boundaries of the original farmer’s fields – they had been deliberately planted and, once upon a time, would have been regularly maintained. Their main purpose would have been to keep sheep and cattle contained within a specific pasture area, but hedges also provide shade and shelter – how often have you seen cattle huddling against a hedge in a storm? -  as well as providing an essential corridor for wildlife.

However, it’s been a couple of decades or more since these hedges have had any attention. The trees and shrubs that make up the hedges – mostly blackthorn and hawthorn, some ash and hazel, among others – have grown upwards (as trees will), leaving gaps at the base and losing the essential ‘hedginess’ that characterises this important landscape feature.

The traditional art of hedgelaying is a means of restoring the hedges to their former glory. It’s been practised for hundreds of years, enabling hedges to thrive and serve their original purposes without any need for barbed wire and posts.

The basic technique involves cutting nearly all the way through the base of the shrib stems and laying them over at an angle. The cut stems are then tucked tightly together and the plant regenerates new growth in the succeeding years.

As part of Carrickfergus Council’s Hedgerow Hopes project, you can help to restore the hedges of Jubilee Wood by learning this ancient craft of hedgelaying. On Saturday 15^th November, between 10am & 3pm, there’ll be experts on hand in the Jubilee Wood to show you how to do it.

This is your chance to help us begin the process of bringing the Jubilee Hedges back to vibrant life, enhancing their value as a home for wrens and blackbirds, bullfinches and yellowhammers.

Turning plastic bags into apples

The government’s ‘carrier bag levy’ was started in April 2013; it meant you had to pay a 5p charge when you chose to take a shop’s plastic bag with your groceries. This has raised over £3m since then, much of which has been channelled into the NI Environment Agency’s NGO Challenge Fund, available to community and voluntary organisations for environmental projects.

Transition Town Whitehead has been one of the beneficiaries; we’ve got a grant of almost £8,500 from the fund for our ‘Edible Landscape’ project. With the ready co-operation of Carrickfergus Council, we intend to plant a sustainable and edible community orchard in the Diamond Jubilee Wood.

The grant will enable us to buy almost 200 fruit and nut trees – apples, pears, cherries, damsons, walnut, hazelnut - and a mixture of berry bushes. Within a few years, these trees will be bearing fruit, for the benefit of everyone who visits the wood and, indeed, for the bird population as well.

The planting of this community orchard will take place on the afternoon of Sunday 23^rd February, starting at 1pm. We’re planning a full-on family event so, apart from the tree-planting, there’ll be guided walks, artistic endeavours and other attractions. We’ll have experts on hand to tell you the stories of the trees, show you how to forage food for free, teach you how to keep a hedge under control. We’ll help you to build your own bird-box, hang some feeders and make a leaf-print.

Our main task, however, is to plant these trees. We’ll make it easy for you by digging all the holes before you get there so that all you’ll have to do is put the tree in the hole, fill it up with compost and flatten down the soil. Then you can write your name on a label and make it ‘your’ tree.

Jim Kitchen, from Transition Town Whitehead, said, “Planting these trees this year is our investment in the future. In a few years’ time, we’ll literally be able to use the fruits of our labour by making puddings, jams and chutneys from the produce of this orchard. We hope this is the first step in what will become an edible landscape – over the next few years, we can add beehives, fruiting hedgerows and, maybe one day, a full scale community allotment scheme.

So, why don’t you come along and help us take the first steps. It’s all happening on Sunday 23^rd February from 1pm to about 4pm. If it’s still raining, put on your boots and waterproofs, bring a spade if you have one, and join us for this planting party. You don’t need to know anything about planting trees; you just need a wee bit of enthusiasm.

If you need any more information, contact us at transitionwhitehead@me.com