The Saltways (“Sealt Stræt”, “Sealt Herepað”) of Notgrove, Hawling and Turkdean, Plus More Hedges!

[@AndyJarman]

Hedgerows were also a source of food and timber. The profusion of damsons, hawthorn, blackberry, hazels, chestnuts and sloes would be a welcome supplement to the peasant diet. Coppiced timber was also very useful for making hurdles. So sweet chestnut, oak, ash and hazel also have an economic value for building and make for good hedge laying.

[@AllotmentFox]

I don't think they were "ever" planted though, though I would love to be wrong. The thorns were planted and then over the years useful wild species inveigled their way in and were enjoyed and cultivated. I know from film from the 60s and 70s that pollarded wood was important from trees in hedgerows. Coppicing is very gappy so is more likely in a wood. I think but can't prove that no one ever planted a damson in a hedgerow, though I've found them, which should show the lovely way our behaviour works with nature. Look at all the apple trees along roadsides even motorways, they weren't planted deliberately

[@wattster71]

That was awesome. Well explained. Really enjoyed it. I think it’s because you are telling stories that transcend the historical and become cultural. Thank you.

[@lindafarnes486]

I'm not here to preach, I'm just putting forward some concepts if you like. I have an interest and read a lot about this, seen things in the news etc. Mono cultures have issues with a range of pests, including insect and plant pests; mice and locusts for example. Growing massive acres of grains is certainly going to attract your grain loving species. Some plantings attract insects that are natural consumers of some of your insect pests. Hedges of themselves can be fruiting species. They can be made up of trees and hedge species. So, purposeful. They do act as a wind break, protect against erosion, and can help soak up flood waters. If they are providing a habitat, that can also be beneficial. You mentioned in times of war, I think the above would certainly be relevant. Grandad used to pop out and bring back a collection of different birds and Grandma used to make a 'game' pie. Hedges likely also reduce the heat in the environment, I'm open to correction. They do seem to reduce weeds along stream and creek banks, and reduce evaporation of the water. Trees are known to absorb pollutants from the air. So just saying, they certainly deserve consideration. The ancient practice of crop rotation was actually a sound and sustainable method of farming.

[@TheGeezer30]

Man Alive! There are times when the YT algorithm drops mana from the Gods straight into my lap. Brilliant stuff, lad.

[@AllotmentFox]

thanks Geezer. A lot dropped into my lap on that last one, it was satisfying to do.

[@stevegunning1806]

Brilliantly explained and in the field too! Great episode, and, as ever, I’m learning more every time. Cheers from an Aussie with Wiltshire forebears. 👍

[@AllotmentFox]

Thank you. Getting out is what it is all about

[@AaronDavies-ms3si]

Teffont magna sound interesting

[@WC21UKProductionsLtd]

Nice to run into Riknield Street again - I encountered that near Wall in the West Midlands when I filmed A Roman Welcome Break. Meant to look at its course and then didn’t, so I must! I’ve been using Hooper since our Black Hedge experiment and it feels like a good rule of thumb to me. As you say, I think the hedge needs to be a good few hundred years old. Someone told me that Mick Aston deliberately planted a mixed species hedge to confuse future archaeologists!

[@AllotmentFox]

the Mick Aston story is funny. Spotting the difference between the agricultural hedge and the ornamental hedge is the next thing to get nailed.Thinking about calibrating the dates of newer hedges is also a priority which I am starting to think about. I have observed a lot of hedges that have 3 species but I believe are from the enclosures and should probably have more like 2 or 1.5 so calibrating the equation might be a fun project.

[@Sheilanagig]

There are a couple of things about what you're doing that I love. I love that you're following the old boundaries. I've seen Michael Wood do it once with a medieval deed, but the idea that there are remaining landmarks from that time is fascinating to me. The other thing I like is that you are focusing on the hedges themselves. The practice of laying hedges exists at least since the neolithic, and as you say, they were impenetrable when they were done right. I agree, the very old ones should be scheduled. I happen to think it's a good idea to lay new hedges from an ecological standpoint.

[@AllotmentFox]

I'm a big Michael Wood fan, so much so I made an ass of myself at one of his talks. I think I know the episode you mean. It is ecological to lay them but is so impractical to do every field that barbed wire becomes inevitable. What I was trying, imperfectly, to say was that we should not put pressure on them to do so but encourage it as a stock enclosure standard only. Hedges being everywhere is a symbol of parliamentary enclosure and the land was much more open previously

[@Sheilanagig]

@@AllotmentFox God, I didn't even think about the connotations in terms of enclosure. Good point. It shouldn't interfere substantially with the right to roam. That said, I find the preservation of very old techniques like making hurdles and coppicing and laying hedges important. I'd hate to lose that knowledge of how things were done in the past.

[@pwhitewick]

I think the line "The Anglos Saxon's saw them as Roman" is key. We have the main VIA's (aggered) and we have the "Actus" and the "Iter" (neither aggered). So we can assume there were more Actus and Iters than VIA's. A big assumption but an seemingly safe assumption? If so, where are all the Iters and Actus's. Perhaps the only way we will ever know is in the charters.

[@AllotmentFox]

Strata “definitely” means stratified stones so there is a chance of finding them by digging. I could see strata at Chute causeway where a sidepath left ruts revealing the structure. If I knew more I would’ve talked about it.

[@pwhitewick]

@@AllotmentFox but chute is a formal Via. So you would definitely have the traditional strata.

[@AllotmentFox]

@@pwhitewick I was using that as an example of a non-archaeologist being able to recognise strata by non-invasive observation. So it would be a good test to see whether a B-Road (without agger) was stratified/mettled. Bear in mind, Icknield Way down in Berkshire (grudgingly I admit now Oxfordshire) was dug and strata found and that is a very bendy road

[@pwhitewick]

@@AllotmentFox ahhhh. Roger that. Ok, specs on tomorrow!!!

[@eddiel7635]

@@AllotmentFox just as a reference, there is a house called the salt box and it definitely has something to do with the storage or transport of salt, situated on the b4070 on the junction with Highfield (the road to Sheepscombe).

[@annenewton5403]

We love your videos.

[@AllotmentFox]

You’re too kind

[@WildwoodTV]

Beautiful video - giving some time to look around our beautiful countryside 🌳Glowchester 🌳 Sealt - of course very valuable (kept under lock & key) Saltpeter for curing bacon (& gunpowder!), Horse Chestnut 1600s import not knarly old Elder.. Agree with supporting farmers for real food - hedges uprooted (bigger machinery bigger fields) then plant trees back, set- aside, no hadlands, fill ponds in, lose quotas, diversify, do this do that, stewardship, right to roam - I guess they've had enough of jumping through hoops - so solar farms, wedding venues & sell land off instead... quickthorn (Haw) blackthorn (sloe) & holly round here (no deer) Shropshire.

[@AllotmentFox]

I spoke to a relative of a farmer very recently about a beautiful hedge and he said the farmer wasn't making a profit. He was just maintaining the farm and waiting for retirement. The people making money are the factory farmers and I am not advocating that, though who am I to tell people how to live? What we shouldn't do is make it hard for people to run good farms. I have mixed feelings about solar farms: they are ugly but help our energy security

[@WildwoodTV]

My brother (retired) has some solar panels on half a low-lying field, with sheep grazing under. No-one can see it really but if you get high up it looks like a big pond. Meanwhile, very sad to see hedges uprooted on the way to town for a new road, hopefully they're avoiding the 'Darwin Oak' 🤞🤞

[@harley419]

Pretty brave words, very thought provoking . I really enjoy your videos, thanks

[@AllotmentFox]

Ouch, brave. If you call someone brave in local government they’ll start packing their things. Thanks, Harley, I’m glad you enjoy them.

[@stuartbridger5177]

Great video, as an amateur hedgelayer, great hedge content.

[@AllotmentFox]

as an amateur hedge-layer, what do you think of the 110 years per species + 30 theory?

[@AllotmentFox]

oh, and billhook or axe?

[@stuartbridger5177]

@@AllotmentFox to be honest, I have only laid hedges planted in the last 20 years, so not really enough experience to comment.

[@stuartbridger5177]

@@AllotmentFox both, each has its purpose as does the chainsaw. Rule of thumb for axe work. One pound of head weight per inch of stem you are cutting.

[@AllotmentFox]

@@stuartbridger5177 what style of laying do you do? Do you compete?

[@adampascoe1084]

Another wonderful and thought provoking video, thank you. What are your thoughts of hedging or rather the lack of surrounding hill forts? Most of our hill forts are prosaic and manicured to within an inch of the top soil. One opinion is that due to population density it would have been impossible for places like Maiden Castle to be effectively defended as there wasn’t the population to mount a defence, so these places were for show rather than military statements. But, if 90% of the ramparts were covered in impenetrable thorns and brambles, then you funnel your attackers to the points that are easier to defend.

[@jointgib]

I saw Pleshey 'castle' before the mound was cleared of brambles etc. They're in the landscape and soon colonise areas. I don't see any reason the local Norman bigwig would ask for them to be trimmed back.

[@iainmc9859]

I'm with you on the hedge laying, although the sad truth is that barbed wire is cheaper and less labour intensive (barbed wire is honestly my most hated item of 'modern' life). I'm with you on the ability of any country to pretty much feed itself, although my position comes from a climatic viewpoint. Importing bland apples from New Zealand ... dear oh dear. Get the land back under the plough but I think there does need ... in a democracy ... to be a national food policy. The vagaries of the open market only lead to short-termism. Be aware (I'm sure you are) that Icknield Way and Icknield Street are completely different Roman -ish roads, both long distance. Icknield Way is basically the first Roman frontier in Britain, where the Romans paused, between Emperors, to consolidate their holdings before moving off the chalklands into the claylands of midlands and the west. This has now been incorporated into the Chalk Way, which I picked up from Paul's latest vlog. As to Hooper's Hypothesis, I still take it with a pinch of Sealt 😉

[@AllotmentFox]

The Hooper hypothesis is genius but needs calibrating. I shall do the calibrating if I can (the sheer arrogance!) and I am currently identifying dated hedges I can then apply the method to and work on the equation. Roads aren't good frontiers. I was however talking to a military man who would use roads as a way of patrolling a large area. But ultimately these roads were services and having them as frontiers would leave your supply lines constantly being raided at random places. As a fully paid up member of the Armchair Generals' Association (yes I have a strategy for winning the Ukraine war and refighting the Battle of Hastings) I would have my roads set back well from a defensible frontier. So with the Icknield Way I would patrol the Thames with forts at Dorchester and Oxford. Any Britons who got to the Icknield Way deserve a spot of looting for their gallantry. And then I would pick them off recrossing the Thames. I wouldn't use the Way as the frontier though, you would constantly be surprised by our painted moustachio-fanciers and no one would use the road ever again. Bang goes the economy.

[@iainmc9859]

@@AllotmentFox I was rather using the Icknield Way as an example delineator rather than as a specific defensive structure, although before any building of a wall or ditch the Roman's would hack out a military way along a route the surveyors had laid out. I live north of the Antonine Wall by not very much, although there's still plenty of half-hearted Roman attempts at pushing a defensible 'area of influence' north of here that didn't involve walls, just roads, watchtowers and forts; Ardoch being the best example. (reminds me of the French in North Africa) A 'soft border' I think is the modern terminology.

[@HelenKempster-t6y]

The horse chestnut tree was introduced into Englang in 1616, and I think the Sycamore is a non native species, so bear this in mind when dating hedgerows

[@AllotmentFox]

Thanks, Helen. The theory is that wild seed germinates over the centuries in old hedges making them more diverse over a steady rate over hundreds of years. So if I said it was 800 years old I wouldn't be saying that all the trees were planted 800 years ago but that 800 years ago the hawthorns or blackthorns were planted and since then the horse chestnuts and sycamores have inveigled their way in

[@AndyJarman]

I thought Sycamore was an import bought into the UK by the Norse?

[@AllotmentFox]

That might explain why I don't respect them as a tree! The ageing thing is about wild species migrating in to hedges at a steady rate over centuries so a Sycamore in an 800 year old hedge isn;t necessarily 800 years old. Increased diversity = age

[@rhysjones9736]

Superb once more. Thank you

[@AllotmentFox]

@@rhysjones9736 thanks Rhys