Hay Meadows in North Wales

The Greater butterfly orchids had gone to seed but Caeau Tan-y-Bwlch was or were looking great.

It was a hay meadow celebration day on these traditional fields overlooking the coast from above Clynnog Fawr. The fields are owned by Plantlife, managed by the North Wales Wildlife Trust and recent recipients of funding from the Nature Fund which has covered various works such as fencing so that the land can be effectively grazed. AGAP (Anglesey Grazing Animals Partnership) was on hand to offer advice on the management of hay meadows. 

A man from SABI (Scything Association of Britain & Ireland) had driven from Norfolk and was helping people perfect their technique; the swish, swish of a scythe is so soothing.

The hay meadows were not quite ready for mowing, some seeds have yet to ripen, but now was a good time for practice and inspiration with several species still in bloom. Once mown, the hay will be baled and used to help seed more meadows.

Children were being instructed in the art of butterfly netting but as you will see, Hilary loses their attention!

Tai Chi with a blade

Snath and peen? Not an anagram but two new words for me. Snath is the wooden handle of a scythe onto the end of which is fixed the razor sharp blade of a scythe, in our case an Austrian scythe. Keeping it sharp is of the essence; rubbing a wetstone repeatedly over the top of the blade, then removing the burr on the underside, every two to three minutes.

But after a day of scything, sharpening alone will not be enough, and it will be time to peen your blade. This is a cold forging of the steel; using a hammer to strike onto a peening rig, the final 4 mm of the blade is beaten outwards to give a thin profile which is then ready for sharpening.

Why does it need to be a wetstone? In sharpening, the stone is taking off dirt and metal which would gunge up the stone unless it is kept and washed in a pouch of water.

Blades peened and sharpened we were inducted into the technique of scything on Cae Poeth, one of the National Trust’s wildflower meadows at Bodnant Gardens. Keep the wind to your back, work downhill and cut at a right angle to the lie of the sward; it’s not always possible to manage all three! The blade should be slid across the ground as it needs to be as close as possible to the base of the grasses if it is going to cut as opposed to stroke. Head down, stay focused and get into the zone sometimes described as Tai Chi with a blade.

Our instructor, Siôn Jinkinson, explained that in a day it should be possible to scythe an acre of meadow. This is somewhat less than the boast in H E Bates’ short story, The Mower, in which Ponto claimed:

'Me and my old dad used to mow twenty- acre fields afore dark - and start with the dew on. Twenty- acre fields. You don't know what mowin' is.' He went on to say .... 'My old man used to drink twenty pints a day. God's truth. Twenty pints a day. He was a bloody champion. You can't mow without beer.’

I enjoyed my scything workshop, so peaceful compared to strimming, with no pollution and less chance of wounding wildlife. As for the relative costs the scythe wins hands down – a good scythe, complete with accompanying tools to sharpen and peen, can cost about £135, will last a lifetime and needs no fuel other than what you eat. Equipment can be ordered from The Scythe Shop and Siôn Jinkinson is the distributor for north Wales.

Thanks Siôn and thanks National Trust. A great day.

Formal gardens with a wildflower feast

Since I was born 60 years ago 99% of species rich grassland in Wales has disappeared; victim of modern farming and gardening practice. But great things are happening at a dozen National Trust properties to champion these grasslands, to restore hay meadows brimming with wild flowers and to inspire people to have a go with their own pockets of land.  The result is beautiful and creates a paradise for bees, butterflies and other insects.

To raise awareness of this project I was asked to make some YouTube films at three of the properties; Powis Castle, Erddig and Bodnant. It was a privilege to meet the gardeners, to see and hear how they manage their grasslands.

Steep terraces rise up from the Great Lawn to the red Powis Castle on the skyline. Giant topiaries and manicured lawns at the top, then lush herbaceous borders and, on the lowest slopes, trees and shrubs in a sea of tall grass packed full of ox-eye daisies. The wild, natural flora complements the formality and landscaping. Dave Swanton explains:

I’d not been to Erddig before, really impressive but a different look and feel to Powis. Over 2,000 orchid spikes were in bloom on the canal banks near the great house  – up until the 1980s these would have been mown down the moment they lifted their heads out of the ground. Glyn Smith explains:

At Bodnant we did not go to the usual places but started in Old Park Meadow which was only recently opened to the public. Here, as at the other properties, I was introduced to the wonders of yellow rattle, a magic ingredient which reduces the vigour of the grass, creating pockets for wild flowers to colonise. Bill Warrell explains:

Suitably inspired I have bought a 500g bag of yellow rattle seed to sow in different parts of my lawns and grass banks this autumn. It needs to be done at this time of year so that the seeds are exposed to winter chills, a prerequisite for germinating in the spring. Would putting them in the deep freeze achieve the same purpose? Thinking even further ahead I have booked myself onto the scything workshop which is being run at Bodnant on 19^th August – no point growing a hay meadow if the beauty and tranquillity is then chewed up by a noisy strimmer!

Many thanks to the National Trust and to Natural Resources Wales for making this happen.