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Many of the staked and pleached hedges in Radnor, as in other parts of Wales too, are "double brushed", unlike Midlands hedges which are always "single brushed". In the latter the pleachers are laid mainly from one side, with the brushy ends angled out to the other. Double brushed hedges have pleachers laid in from both sides, arching over the centre, with the brushy ends projecting on alternate sides. This is the style used where sheep are the prime consideration and it produces a very thick hedge. Pollard, Hooper and Moore say that laying was probably "relatively little practised before the eighteenth- and nineteenth- century Enclosure Acts", but the technique was certainly known long before this. Fitzherbert gave detailed instructions for pleaching a hedge, while Shakespeare referred to "her hedges even-pleach'd" (Henry V, V ii). Even the Celtic Nervii seem to have known the art: "They cut into young saplings and bent them over, and thus by the thick horizontal growth of boughs, and by intertwining them with brambles and thorns, they contrived. these wall-like hedges" (Caesar, Gallic War). But certainly parliamentary enclosure must have given a great impetus to pleaching, for the instructions of the time on hedge planting and management generally recommended this form of maintenance. The traditional role of the hedge is now being questioned in many parts of the country, which has led to an upsurge of interest among naturalists, conservationists, historians and the ordinary laymen who appreciate their role in the landscape. The ingenious formula evolved by Dr Max Hooper of the Nature Conservancy's Monks Wood Experimental Station for estimating the age of a hedge from the number of plant species it contains has revealed many instances of great longevity. Some hedges a thousand years old are known still to exist from Saxon times, which I find an astonishing and fascinating thought. Birch Bank, Gawsworth Road, Gawsworth, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK11 8UG. ILLUSTRATIONS Some of the attractive illustrations used in this issue of the journal have been kindly provided by the following artists: Louise Paull, page 6 Sally Shiret, page 8 Roz Nathan, page 9 Leighton Moses, page 18 Christine Rogers, page 20 Joanna Kruys, pages 22,54 David Wichbold, page 22 The Editors would like to thank them very sincerely for making their sketches available for publication. If there are any other wildlife artists interested in submitting illustrations for possible publication, please contact us. Susan Edwards, page 37 Philip Cook, page 38 James Field, page 38 Peter Storey, page 44 Steve Jaremko, page 49, back cover Enfys Beynon Thomas, page 53 Stewart Roberts, inside back cover (map)