Remember all those hazel stakes we cut, back at the beginning of October?
Well, here they are again, arriving on top of Countryside Officer Ali’s official Landrover, at the Lambrok Bridge end of Lambrok Meadow.
We have used them to build a barrier to protect the stream from careless drivers, and the bridge’s foundations from the ever-deepening paths worn by visitors’ dogs. First, we cleared away the car crash, a broken scooter and a small traffic cone.
The stakes were hammered into the ground with a heavy iron post-driver until they were solidly fixed.
Then, once we had untangled them from the grass, we wove the blackthorn trimmings from earlier in the year in and out of the stakes to make a firm barrier. A little pruning with some shears finished the job.
Here’s the completed dead-hedge, photographed from both sides of the bridge.
All photographs by Ian Bushell
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 