The Master hedgelayer

This series of videos is linked to the Nelson Russell memorial website at www.twjazzclub.co.uk/nelson2/

[@charliemanson4808]

This took me back to Cumbria, 1979- 1980 (about 14, 15 years old) when I took it on myself to be a nuisance to the local hedge layer. Within a week or so, he would be at my door to pick me up in his old Austin J2 pickup to cut and collect the Hazel stakes before the days work started proper. I had a great 4 seasons working with him, I was paid quite well actually after the first month but my real wage was the learning and for him, it was the passing of the knowledge as his own son had "gone on to Cambridge" and "worked in the City" (London). I last layered a hedge in 2001/2 in Belgium of all places after convincing a local friend not to rip out the patchy hedgerow but to let me layer it. It took longer than I'd expected but it was a part time after work and weekend thing with bbqs and beer often stopping work! I was serving in the RAF and stationed at NATO HQ SHAPE at the time. But at last sighting 7 years or so ago he had a superbly solid hedge of about 5 feet high that requires trimming annually, and has gone on to do the same for various neighbours. I often see hedgerows and yearn to reach for a sharp billhook. Peace Charlie 🇬🇧

[@DejanIlic-ni6lf]

Поздрав из Србије! 🇷🇸 Код нас на југоистоку, људи су правили ограде само бацајући гране потпуно одсечене, једну до друге и онда стављали стубове. Овај начин, где је ограда жива, јако ме радује! Покушаћу у свом селу да направим ограду као што има код вас. Најлакше и брзо овде расте багрем, а и глог, леска. Хвала вам на коментару, а аутору на занимљивом и поучном видеу!

[@DeanMorrison]

I knew Nelson, fantastic bloke, he taught me how to hedgelay and a lot more. I took Spike Milligan out to meet him once, that was a day! Will never forget his cider. This brings back fond memories.

[@halnywiatr]

Wait; you took Spike Milligan out to meet this son of the countryside? Please write an account; i want to read it.

[@stuartc9149]

Excellent hedge he's built there. I always thought Sussex was notable for using tree lines instead of hedges. Where in Sussex did he live?

[@stewartfenton7660]

@@halnywiatr yeah he casually tossed that in and now he's buggered off! I'll do him a comment and his bell will go off.

[@stewartfenton7660]

Dean Morrison so tell us about Spike

[@DeanMorrison]

@@stewartfenton7660 Ah sorry guys! only just seen this! Yes, happy to write a short account of the day Spike met Nelson, bit busy now, will aim to do it by the weekend

[@paulreynolds9003]

Nowadays the farmers would rather just pull the hedge out . I’ve seen so many disappear on the farms where I go and with them the partridge follow. Modern tractors with gps systems like big open fields but large fields aren’t good for wildlife. I think this old boy in this video would out work me at 50. Great to watch.

[@johnwright9372]

My grandad was the Staffs county hedgelaying champion for many years and NUF champion in 1957. I worked hedgelaying with him in the 70s when in my early 20s and he was in his late 70s. He out worked me then. Tough man.

[@Dirt-Fermer]

They think the hedgerows slow everything down but the birds were natural pest control

[@nickstraw1952]

Hedge laying was always winter work. At a time when agricultural labourers - on poor wages even in the good times - would other wise be un-employed. It wasn't charity, the farmers needed the stock proof boundries, and the low pay was likely cheaper than wire and bought posts. And if the labourers left, it was hard to get any replacements - What a surprise! My uncle and dad would do maybe a side of a field a day. Uncle always reckoned it would need re doing in 20 years. By the following harvest, it was all thick and stout again. Certainly kept the cows and speed in, or out. My job as a nipper was to tend the fire burning the brush. Going home smelling of smoke, may be with scorched clothes did not endear me to mum.

[@stewartfenton7660]

Nick Straw, honestly, I think you've got your rose coloured glasses on regarding the speed of work. Look how fast this very skilled man is working, it would be a very small field whdfd you did one side a day. Maybe you could trim an already laid hedge at thst speed, two of you. I laid hedges in Devon, much less complex in our parts because we have earth banks with the hedge on top, so don't need to drive in all those stakes. Either by myself or with a mate, we didn't get far in a day, I tell you. No offence Nick, honestly.

[@jerrybear3081]

@@stewartfenton7660 the video shows a man in his 60s or 70s demonstrating. Nick Straw is describing a pair of younger men doing the same job, probably able to accomplish more in the same time period.. plus the condition of the hedge to start would make the job quicker, if it was done routinely it would be a lot quicker.

[@stewartfenton7660]

@@jerrybear3081 I hear you, but I stand by what I say, having been there. If you laid a hedge that was last done 20 years ago, that would be considered routine. A lot of growth in that time. I'm not talking about the annual trimming of the sides, which obviously would take less time. That became mechanised during my childhood, but I have done my share of hand trimming. Called paring or browsing in Devon.

[@jerrybear3081]

@@stewartfenton7660 so many variables, it would be really hard to judge how long this sorta job would take.

[@stewartfenton7660]

@@jerrybear3081 yeah, how big is a field anyway? They all seem to be different, should be a law against it. (Puzzled, Devon)

[@klackon1]

My paternal great grandfather was All England Champion 3 years running and was allowed to keep the trophy for life. In his day, they not only cut the hedge, but also dug a ditch. He usd to charge by the chain (22 yards) and was well paid. He was going to teach my father the art, but suffered a stroke.

[@charlieneilson1239]

God, that axe is nice and sharp! Wonderful footage! This chap is the real deal. Hands like shovels!

[@bombasticbuster9340]

I hope we still have lovely gentlemen like this in the 21St C. Here in Arkansas my grandpop was born in 1912 and was a 19thC person. We need to preserve the old ways. I was privileged to learn a lot back in my childhood. I am 52 and a grandad myself.

[@paulrobertson3815]

Nelson was a true Sussex man. It was a privilege to know and chat to him, he was a font of knowledge on the countryside. A proper gent!

[@jacobtaylor4258]

i worked with men like this in my youth, drystone walling, edgelaying, stone drains, it was a privilege to work in the countryside, them moments i cherage, i live in tintwistle derbyshire.

[@hughn]

Yep. They were/are great. I got called "boy" into my twenties. Good to hear a proper accent - thought it was just my mother left. "We won't be druv!!"

[@brotherlove100]

I had no idea that they would lay everything down. I had no idea that proper trees COULD be laid down and not kill them. I had no idea that they didn't want trees at all. I had no idea that the trees would start to grow again. very interesting and educational video.

[@ratatoskr1069]

I actually have a willow tree on my property that split in half and one half layed itself down just like that and started to shoot in exactly the same manner. It must have split 2 or 3 years ago and the shoots are already little trees themselves.

[@voicezful]

An elder can be regrown from a twig the size of matchstick taken from the mother tree.

[@stewartfenton7660]

​@@voicezfulas a matter of interest though, elder is very difficult to lay without cracking it right through. On the hedges I worked on in North Devon, I would only occasionally come across an elder, and I don't recall whether I EVER laid one down without breaking it. I'm pretty sure that if I did,I never got one to actually grow.

[@Dirt-Fermer]

@@stewartfenton7660 for elders you probably be better off stool layering them so they spread and if you trim them a bit after they become their own plants they’ll grow thick anyways

[@stewartfenton7660]

@@Dirt-Fermer what do you mean by stool layering?

[@MONKIPANTS]

Legendary skill and knowledge with a great attitude to living hedges. I'm glad he had the forethought to document this and pass on his knowledge to the future generations. What a great chap!

[@Dreyno]

“Honeysuckle. Horrible stuff!” I love honeysuckle 😄

[@jasonanders7003]

I thought he was wearing gloves. Those are his hands. I remember as a child in the 70s the hands of the old working men born in the teens and twenties. Almost no one has hands like that anymore.

[@simonjlkoreshoff3426]

A work of art - beautiful and functional - made with local materials and a bit of graft. Like all good things it is something that will only get better over time.

[@johnbuoy1401]

I thought it was going to be a lesson taught through the generations, till he whipped out the chainsaw. Then I heard the man’s reasoning and I knew he was a master of his craft. Beautiful to see this done properly. A dying art

[@jennifermullins277]

Though I’m a 50 year old woman from the mountains of southeast Kentucky, oh, what I’d give to have been this fine man’s apprentice!

[@anonymousperson4943]

Amazing work !!😍😍 I didn't know about this method where the tree can be bent and shoots can come across it's length !!!😍😍😍

[@What..a..shambles]

Great footage, he was proud of his work and I would be too 👍🏻

[@christopherhinton6456]

you can see that the man loved his work.

[@alanturner9609]

Many happy hours have I spent attending the hedge. What we called 'steeping'. Wattle fence wasn't practical as all my hedges were on top of hedge bank. We did the same thing, cut out the thick stuff for firing and lay in the thin stuff as tight to the ground as possible. Cut sticks with a barb at the end, hammer it in so that it catches the thin stuff and keeps it down. This old boy knew what he was about.

[@truckertom3323]

I enjoyed this video, good honest days working, every day and every hedge is a different job.

[@peggyjones3282]

I didn't even know hedge laying was a thing. It's so cool! Now I want to grow one. It would be completely impractical where I live, but I don't care. 😆 They really are ingenious. All these old skills and crafts are so fascinating.

[@martinbyrne6643]

That old boy has no arthritis

[@Dirt-Fermer]

He might just be fighting through it. He probably used his hands everyday for decades like he’s doing in the video. Or he has the strongest hands

[@johnparkhurst825]

Old timer paced off yards not meters , I liked that.

[@terryteed1903]

I'd love to see this hedge now. Thank you.

[@richardeljay]

Fabulous. Great to see a master craftsman at work hedgelaying, which seems to be going through a bit of a revival, and also hear that old sussex accent.

[@lesdrinkwater490]

Brilliant skills. I would have given anything to learn from this man.

[@johnrobinson3905]

Russell is a fine surname for a hedge layer.

[@littlemessymissythehedgero3164]

This is amazing.

[@crawwwfishh3284]

Bravo sir.

[@martinbyrne6643]

Great looking broad axe ‘ wonder where is it now

[@markriley7902]

No gloves just safety spit 😀

[@rosep3050]

oh wow, you made my day (week, year) I had forgotten this, and brought back a lot of childhood memories of salt of the earth grandad, uncles on both sides of family haha:

[@vwbusguy]

Nothing a bit of safety spit wont fix.

[@johncitizen3227]

🙌👌work of art.

[@randolphbutler1832]

This is truly an art form. Thank you for sharing you insight and effort.

[@stoltenborg]

What a legend.

[@geraldswain3259]

This old boy doesn't need the jym every day.!.. he could teach these young. Un's a thing or two about fitness.

[@nevillewalker6299]

Couldn't have picked a rougher old hedge for him to work on. Still have a FEW youngsters who lay a hedge or two but it is a dying trade.

[@grahamburbage8443]

Watched this several times, just realised it is Nelson Russell.

[@tomthompson7400]

Fine workmanship.

[@zvonimirdulic8755]

So wie der Opa hier hat mein Opa auch scharfen Werkzeug . Bevor er starb hat er alles noch mal scharf gemacht . Wir waren in schule un der Nachbar kam und wollte eine Axt von Opa . Tante Martha gab ihm , aber mein Muter wusste der Opa hatte ihm nie Werkzeug gegeben . Dan nahm er die Axt in eine von seinen Linken Händen und die Axt kam stumpf wieder . Ja Nachbar kann man sich nicht aussuchen ! Zvonimir

[@jamessandifer6119]

well done. Start to finish.

[@martinbyrne6643]

A wren wouldn’t get through that hedge

[@johntatton3278]

What was this excellent video made.

[@johnroberts7924]

A true master!

[@martinbyrne6643]

Did any of you’s ever see sods of earth put on top to keep the branches down ‘ I seen it here in Ireland in the old days

[@adreenryan2901]

Yes I did Martin I from Ireland we used sods the whole time off the bank it was easier to get.

[@ivanwoodward4116]

In Middlesex we used to have a hedge with a ditch. We layed the hedge first, then dug the ditch. We put the contents of the ditch at the top side of the ditch, which was the bottom of the hedge.

[@sroberts605]

@@ivanwoodward4116 Why? Extra protection against stock escape, or to protect the hedge, or...?

[@Dirt-Fermer]

Stool layering. It clones the plants ya? Unless im thinking of something else

[@TerryTerryTerry]

Brilliant axe

[@QuietRiverBear]

What tree species work well for the living part of the hedge?

[@dave29123]

"[...]hawthorn and blackthorn are among the best hedging plants but field maple, hazel, dogwood, Vibernum opulus, spindle, lilac, and elm are all suitable." www.gardenista.com/posts/landscaping-101-hedge-laying/

[@barkershill]

Hazel, hawthorn , blackthorn, field maple .

[@robertkeville6230]

This is tremendously interesting and informative. Why is there wire? It looks pretty thick to me.

[@TerryTerryTerry]

Great character

[@zasvedogovore]

Life coach on duty

[@mickmclaren3270]

Work on a farm all my life never never seen a one handed axe that big ,, ??

[@jacobtaylor4258]

that axe was used for splitting tree trunks to make planks, have a look at log cabin building, you see it in use,

[@DeanMorrison]

It was a side axe, with a bevelled edge and a slightly off centre handle Nelson made himself. He knew the old blacksmith who made it, he was an old man when Nelson was a boy. Nelson showed me how the metal on the cutting edge had been forged in from a different piece of street to the rest. That’s because the blacksmiths in those days had saved stockpiles of swords from the Napoleonic Wars, and used that top quality steel for working part. Nelson knew how to sharpen his tools too, so that axe pretty much slid through wood under its own weight.

[@mickmclaren3270]

Dean Morrison , Thanks for the info Dean ,, when I went to work on my last farm there was 15 men working it , when I left 40 year later there was 3 plus we did contract work ,, the word hand tools ,,I do not think is use now ,, I'm retired now , it was hard work but would I do it again ,,you bet your life I would , out in the fresh air all day ( no air con cabs ) ,,maybe it will go full turn ,, ?? Thanks for sharing ,,MM

[@martinbyrne6643]

By turning the handle in that axe you can make it right hand or left hand ‘

[@footshotstube]

theres something satisfyimg about a long hedge when you layed it yrself , fond timess [ even we and cold lol ]

[@robinking6201]

Wonder what it looks like to day , probably need relaying ,looked fantastic then. Good way to keep fit as well .

[@paulmckenzie4291]

Hi Robin, it would be lush and dense and high and ready to pull down again. In the days long before mine or this video, this job was an ongoing task. Hedges would never be allowed to grow so tall. A hedger relied on the supple green growth to weave in to the row. Year in year out. The chopping and bending was repair work or restoration which became necessary when machinery took over. Laying stone or tucking brick are considered art now but in the day got you a cot (probs hay in shed) and a feed. Just saying, based on my ancestors memories.

[@PibrochPonder]

They have an electric fence for the horses now.

[@sh-hg4eg]

@@PibrochPonder aye and the birds and mice have no shelter or food. I bet the horses don't too much enjoy the wind either.

[@noechoes2]

Blackthorne

[@pedallinraw]

Proper chainsaw not a battery operated one 😏👍🏻

[@historygradstu]

God bless English gents like that!

[@williamavery9185]

Alan Ashby from Speldhurst is your man these days.

[@ratatoskr1069]

But why the wire fence? Wasnt the hedge supposed to be self sufficient?

[@Luckingsworth]

The hedge is vulnerable when it is just cut down like this, the wire fence is to protect the just-cut trees from being killed by livestock until they have had time to heal themselves. If you were simply maintaining a hedge i do not think it is necessary, only when you are essentially starting from scratch again. The wire is able to be removed the following year.

[@ratatoskr1069]

@@Luckingsworth Thank you very much for the answer. I am starting to grow hedges and tips like this help me a lot. I started with this deadwood hedge here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qV7LanyEfNGXjZo ... I hope the willow poles used will grow enough so I can lay them in the future and make a real hedge.

[@Luckingsworth]

@@ratatoskr1069 I have been doing research to figure out what route I want to go for my fencing so I am glad to share what I learned 😁

[@ratatoskr1069]

@@Luckingsworth Thanks a lot!

[@VidkunQL]

I love this craft -- which I had never heard of before I saw this video. But I have to ask: If you're going to add a wire fence, to protect the hedge from livestock, then... why have the hedge?

[@Dreyno]

The hedge is not thick or strong just when it’s been layed. After it grows for a season (like in the end of the video) the fence would no longer be required. A living hedge will outlast the fence which will start having rotting posts in a few years. Also, the hedge gives far more shelter to livestock. Also, not that it may have been a big consideration in years gone by, the hedges are a vital piece of the landscape for many different species of birds and mammals.

[@VidkunQL]

@@Dreyno Ah! That makes perfect sense, thank you!

[@johnwright9372]

No gloves because his hands are like leather.

[@dcvariousvids8082]

Biggest axe smallest chainsaw, where’s the saving in energy there?

[@martinbyrne6643]

Don’t be so stupid

[@bigolpeen407]

Come on you saw the size of material, imagine having a 20”bar on that job

[@thetessellater9163]

This isn't thorn, then !

[@contumacious5506]

Despite what many Brits seem to think, we Americans think highly of England and its people. (Not, mind you, of the anti-Western communists in your government who slow-walked Brexit because the voters chose "wrong," let alone of the Africans and Muslims who have turned your inner cities into lawless cesspools, but of the true English people like this man, who built such an impressive civilization, bravely fought two world wars, and have such impressive life skills as the hedge craft demonstrated here.)

[@martinbyrne6643]

Trump didn’t think much of governments leader Teresa may during brexit

[@jeffreycrawley1216]

Racist piffle.

[@JvS1711]

@@jeffreycrawley1216 depressing how many comment sections on traditional skills videos are full of racist vitriol.

[@Luckingsworth]

@@JvS1711 Funny how you come to these videos about European traditions you would be happy to destroy.

[@JvS1711]

@@Luckingsworth Hilarious how assumptions can make one look like an absolute twit. Part of my day job is to help traditional skills survive, and I engage in a number myself.

[@margaretmoore7034]

Bloody hell whats that axe hes using .. it would be perfect for an executioner !

[@historygradstu]

A broad axe, they vary a little but they were mainly used in hewing a log down one side with a somewhat flat surface

[@margaretmoore7034]

@@historygradstu Ah thanks for that. I watched an excellent old documentary on KZbin called ' Traditional Finnish Log House Building - 16mm Film Scan ' .. I highly recommend it because it shows the master craftsmen using these type of axes to face raw timber into totally flat neat surfaces and they make it look so easy.

[@historygradstu]

@@margaretmoore7034 I have about a 9 lb broad axe, the blade is about 12 inches long. Yes, short strides with it, about too heavy to swing constantly but standing on top of the log is the best approach... just lift it a bit and let it fall. Here in the Appalachian mtns a lot of log homes back in the 18th-19th century were hewn with a broad axe....all kinds, were made, light weight 1llb on up, usually one side of the blade beveled and an offset handle, ( too keep from dusting your knuckles) but have seen double edged broad axes...lots of variance out there.

[@margaretmoore7034]

​@@historygradstu Wow you live in the Appalachian mountain country ? .. I learned all sorts from your folk, just by doing online searches about fixing things the inexpensive way and I always ended up getting the best info from Appalachian folk who'd posted tips and tricks in forums such as diy rat poison and knife sharpening oil alternatives. I live in the North of England in a coal mining area and we are also the kind of people who appreciate good tools for the right jobs.

[@mkaysartfuljourney1239]

Interesting

[@stuartc9149]

Bullice / bullis ?

[@Theorimlig]

Bullace!

[@rsa420]

That was a kak show

[@rsa420]

regards of tools and saw work is a crying shame

[@rsa420]

Did you pay him in booze?