Hedgerow dating

[marchogaeth]

I did quite a bit of reading about this before taking my class out to date what I was pretty sure was an ancient hedge. I know bramble and wild rose count as woody species but does anyone know if you should count Ivy?

PS Hedge comes out between 6 and 700 years which fits with what I know about its history.

[ancee]

AH! That kind of dating! I thought you were on about having a date in a hedgerow!!!

[Nicos]

here- have a look at this...

http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/t...getraining.pdf

[veggiechicken]

http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm...y-handbook.pdf
This ^^^ records ivy as "Ground flora". Haven't read it in detail - just skimmed through.

[Nicos]

and this..
Hedgerow | Natural History Museum

and this one explains Hooper's Rule....

http://www.leics.gov.uk/hedgerow.pdf

[WendyC]

When I did hedgerow dating with my class at the local RSPB reserve we were told to look for plants with woody stems, which were thicker than your thumb. Adult's thumb I think! Don't think it would include ivy in that case but it can have thick stems at the base.

[marchogaeth]

Diolch pawb. The Defra one has Ivy as a woody species so I'm going with that - must have missed it when I read it before. We were using Hooper's rule for our estimating.

As I explained to the class, now, when I plant or repair a hedge I pick a mixture of species that are in local established hedges so in the future people will be even less sure of their findings.

[mothhawk]

AH! That kind of dating! I thought you were on about having a date in a hedgerow!!!

Ditto ancee! I thought it was going to be a type of speed dating for country folk - you chat walking along the hedgerow and when you reach a gate you change partners. Might catch on

[veggiechicken]

Is that the Kissing Gate, Moth?

[mothhawk]

Quite probably, VC.
Would you believe it!? Just goggled to find a kissing gate image to attach, and the first site to come up was a rural dating agency called.... you guessed it.....
kissinggates.com

[mothhawk]

BTW here's the image

[veggiechicken]

They put up up a kissing gate near here, and it was a bit tight to get through. One of the dog walkers said he didn't like it because it was too intimate. Whenever I go through it I remember that

[mothhawk]

If it was me, I'd probably remember and snigger.....

[marchogaeth]

They put up up a kissing gate near here, and it was a bit tight to get through. One of the dog walkers said he didn't like it because it was too intimate. Whenever I go through it I remember that

There are three kissing gates on our way to the outdoor school and every child and adult is "required" to air kiss the person behind French style (I edited that from what I first posted!). You should hear the complaints if someone doesn't do it properly!

[veggiechicken]

Hope they don't "require" that up here - some of the dogwalkers are a little odd (just like me )