Hundreds of pupils help to plant one kilometre of new hedgerow at Warwick secondary school

Over the last few weeks CPRE (Council for the Preservation of Rural England) Warwickshire, along with pupils from Myton School, volunteer groups from the village of Luddington near Stratford, a team from estate agents Sheldon Bosley Knight and another from Warwick University’s Nature Conservation group completed their target of planting and restoring one kilometre of (new) hedgerow.

This work was part of the Hedgerow Heroes project launched in 2021 to support the national campaign to increase the hedgerow network by 40 per cent by 2050.

The campaign aimed to inspire individuals and lead to a greater understanding of why hedgerows are so important to our environment and wildlife.

Working with the Year 7 Head at Myton school, James Hibbard and his colleague, Andy Griffin, sixth form administrator, a competition was organised to design a new hedgerow to be planted in front of the old school entrance: well over 300 pupils participated

A winning design was chosen, sixth formers provided the muscle and dug the holes for the new plants and the Year 7s planted, staked and wrapped guards around them. Warwick and Leamington MP, Matt Western visited the school on the last day of planting and ceremoniously planted the final ‘whip’.

Two sites in Luddington, amounting to 230 metres in length, were also planted and the final 100-or-so metres needed to reach the target of one kilometre was planted on the Shakespeare’s Way footpath.