b'Hedge DatingWendy GildingT he principles of hedge dating were calculatedThorny Lane, Pocklington Lane, Worsendale and about 30 years ago by Dr Max Hooper of theBelthorpe Lane have 6 species. There is an interesting Institute of Terrestrial Ecology near Huntingdon.contrast half a mile down Bolton Lane where, on the By comparing the known age of a hedge fromright, a pre-enclosure hedge has 7 species contrasting documents, with the number of species of trees orwith an enclosure hedge of 4 species on the left side.shrubs in a 30-yard length of the hedge, he found this roughly equalled the age of the hedge in centuries. Frequency of Species FoundDifferent types of species e.g. English Elm andHawthorn 56Wych Elm are counted separately. The climbers clematis, ivy, bramble and honeysuckle are excludedBlackthorn 53as they can squeeze into an established hedge andAsh 46grow quickly. Dog rose 40I had thought of relating the results to anyElder 34identifiable remnants of hedges from the medievalField Maple 24ridge and furrow fields, to see if their dates talliedSycamore 11with new hedges planted at enclosure in the late 18th century. I was pleased to hear that records ofDog Wood 10enclosure are still available and show that it was doneElm (English) 8in two stages (1726 and 1772). Added to which, theseCrab apple 7records show that some pockets of land appear toHazel 6have been enclosed even before this. Willow 1Holly 1Yew 1Of the 46 species which are listed as being eligible for inclusion, 14 were recorded in Bishop Wilton. A further 3 (Wych Elm, Wild Privet and Spindle) so far are known to grow in the parish, and there are probably more.Hawthorn is the species most frequently found: in 56 out of 58, which is not surprising as it was specified in some enclosure acts. Blackthorn occurs Number of hedges per diversity of species in 53 hedges and some acts specified thorn. There 58 sections of hedge were examined in 2002. Theis more work to do in 2003 when it is hoped we can number of species ranged from 1 to 8. One sectionsurvey off road, particularly pre-enclosure hedges.of hedge in Mucky Lane came top with 8 species,A provisional conclusion on the efficacy of the suggesting it is 800 years old. The hedges in this lanehedge dating calculation is that it results in excess of show another sign of age as they are on low banks.what is known to be the case. That is not surprising This is despite the fact that Mucky Lane appearsfor enclosure hedges, which may have been planted to have been formally laid out in 1726 when the oldwith multiple species at the outset. The calculation South Field was voluntarily enclosed.does seem to correctly indicate the relative age of hedges. Also, surveying hedges is fun!What is the connection? And Did Those Feet?What is the connection between ridge & furrow, a rifleJ ack Tripp (or was his name Jack West?!) was and a millstone?mentioned in the last bulletin. He used to visit The answer is at the end of this bulletin. Bishop Wilton regularly and he is remembered by Bessy Fridlington (nee Smith) because he wanted her to be his assistant in a show but her mother wouldnt hear of it.It is also said that he was banned from Whist Drives because he was so good at card tricks!32 BULLETIN 3'