These hedges need looking after. Even well-built hedges suffer from the effects of tree roots, burrowing rabbits, rain, wind, farm animals and people. Eventually the hedge sides lose their batter, bulge outwards and stones fall. How often repairs are needed depends on how well the hedge was built, its stone and what has happened to it since it was last repaired. Typically a hedge needs a cycle of repair every 150 years or so, or less often if it is fenced. If minor repairs are neglected, the hedge can quite soon become ruinous and in danger of removal.
There is a demand for new hedges. Building new, and repairing existing hedges is a skilled craft. There are skilled professional hedgers in Cornwall who can be relied on to do a proper job, but there are others who lack correct training and who are pressured to do sub-standard work. Contract gangs find difficulties in training young hedgers satisfactorily while the job is being done. Many volunteers enjoy the therapeutic value of repairing Cornish hedges and want to do a proper job, but need supervision from a skilled craftsman. There is an urgent need for more new craftsmen to replace the older hedgers as they retire. By supporting the Guild of Cornish Hedgers, we trust that this ancient craft will continue into the future, with properly trained apprentices coming forward to look after Cornwall's rich heritage of hedges.