Noticing hedgerows

The thing which strikes you most about this area of Wales are the hedgerows. Very different to England. For a start, most of the fields are marked out by rows of mature broad leaf trees. And there are single standing trees dotted through the landscape.

This is very different to the Cotswolds, where hedges tend to be smaller and whole valleys full of fields only have a handful of mature trees.

But it’s the dense hedges lining the narrow roads that are most interesting. They are tall, about eight feet, and thickly woven together over the decades.

You can see hazel, oak, wych elm, holly, field maple, hawthorn, buckthorn and many others as you follow a stretch.

This is very effective as stock proof fencing, but also harbours a lot of wildlife. At the bottom of the hedges are an abundance of wild flowers. Rough hawkbit, blue vetch, bird’s foot treffoil, red clover, foxgloves and willowherb were all out in flower at the moment.