Cornwall is a land of distant views, clear sea air and brilliant light, where hedges are visible for many miles, perhaps dramatically side-lit by the rising or setting sun. They enhance the beauty of the landscape, as they follow the undulating shapes of the hills and contain most of the trees in the countryside. Although today the subtle colours of the old-time pastures and hay-meadows have been reduced to the unreal green of silage fields, the hedges still supply the attractive colouring of natural growth, changing with the seasons of the year. With the varied colours and shapes of stone and their floral growth and trees, these hedges have been voted by visitors to be the best attraction in Cornwall, and they are deeply loved and cherished by residents.
Unfortunately there is a general ignorance of how our landscape has been created. Trees are lost through lack of care, and the sides and tops of many hedges are ruthlessly scalped.
We need to keep our hedges and their natural top-growth to mask modern eyesores and to retain the spirit of Cornwall – a land of rugged cliffs and moors, rocky outcrops, leafy valleys and small villages, all linked by the lovely patchwork of fields and hedges across the rolling hills. Cornish hedges are the vital survivors of a traditional past, and a priceless resource for a more attractive future.