RESIDENTS are being offered the chance to learn a traditional skill at a hedge laying workshop in Loddiswell this weekend.

The charity Devon Rural Skills Trust is running a series of practical one-day courses in the traditional skills throughout the year. The skills, which have made the Devon landscape so distinctive, include dry-stone-walling, cobble stoning, hurdle making and building with cob, alongside hedge laying or hedge steeping.

This seasons sessions of winter hedge laying have recently begun and people in the area are invited to join in.

The next hedge laying workshop is being held on Saturday, November 14, at Ham Farm, Loddiswell, TQ7 9JQ, and will provide attendees with the opportunity to develop new practical skills and help conserve Devon’s rural heritage.

Course instructor, Chris Bond said: ‘Hedge steeping is a method of maintaining the stock proof nature of a hedge whilst keeping the growth of the plants dense, young and bushy.

‘It prolongs the life of a hedge and also provides other benefits of creating a wind break, shelter and shade for livestock and a dense, continuous habitat for wildlife.

‘The Devon style of hedge steeping involves partially cutting through living saplings near their base with a billhook or axe and bending them over to lay flat along the top of the bank. The steepers are laid in two combs and staked into place to form a living fence.

‘Hedge laying is very physical so it’s a great way to keep warm - and fit - through the colder months.’

The Devon Rural Skills Trust was established to promote and prolong the traditional skills and crafts, which have been practised in the county for centuries. In addition to weekend courses which are open to everyone, the Devon Rural Skills Trust runs a training scheme which aims to help young people develop the expertise necessary to enable them to earn a living from the crafts taught by the Trust.

The course starts at 9.30am and finishes at 4.30pm. Anyone interested in booking a place or to find out more information about the Trust should contact Mick Godfrey on 01548 821156 or go to www.drst.org.uk.