Hedgelaying is a traditional rural craft and is still commonly used to maintain hedgerow boundaries on agricultural land and estates. The masterclass comprised of both practical demonstrations, as well as hands-on hedgelaying practice and was facilitated by Champion Hedgelayer, Clive Bethell.

Tom Cunningham, Curriculum Manager for Agriculture, Food and Land Management, said: “Hedgelaying is a really valuable skill for our students to develop to support their futures careers and develop skillsets to allow them to be effective within their industries. We pride ourselves on our excellent industry links and this is just one example of how we engage industry into providing these expert masterclasses on key topics.

This type of skill and management technique will become increasingly important as we see the introduction of the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS), when an increased empathsis is placed on managing the environment sensitively and sustainably. We therefore want to ensure that our students are well-equipped to succeed within their chosen industries.”

Agriculture and Countryside Management courses include units such as Estate Skills and Managing Environmental Habitats, which focus on the develop of skills and knowledge in these key environmental topic areas.

L2 Agriculture student, Lochlan Wake, said: “The Hedgelaying Practical was really good fun and I learnt a really useful new skill. I can certainly see how this will be valuable in my future career and I am really interested in undertaking further Hedgelaying training. The L2 Agriculture Course is really enjoyable and the facilities at Rodway Farm are brilliant – we learn so many different skills from working with livestock, using machinery and maintaining the farm and estate.”

For more information on Agriculture and Countryside Management courses, please visit https://www.btc.ac.uk/?s=agriculture