That is the generally accepted view, NS, but in my experience newts are quite adapable. I've found them living well away from water, for example. Barring our cold snaps, it's been quite a mild winter overall, so I'm not surprised by your observation. This is a useful faq webpage: Amphibian and Reptile Conservation

https://www.arc-trust.org/newts-faqs 

Antarctic engineers p-p-p-pick up a new team member

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq8k9l9dkd8o 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c2k5e14vwx4o 

A modern day Jonah!

A close shave!

I just popped over from your mention in the other thread and in doing so was wondering if they were going to be brown hairstreaks. A beautiful butterfly when the sun catches the orange patch on the wings. First one I ever saw was in Steyning in Sussex I think and again in Surrey. Were the bushes blackthorn? Hope they hatch ok.

Brown Hairstreak  by Dave C , on Flickr

Yes, blackthorn. But they lay eggs (which are easy to find) at the junction between 1 and 2 year old wood - it will be litchen free and clean.. And they seem to prefer fairly vigorous growth. Blackthorn is quite odd (at least around here) in that older shrubs grow really very slowly but suckers grow very rapidly. And trimmed hedges* grow just right for a few years...

As many will be aware trimming will trim off BH eggs. Otoh, if left untrimmed the blackthorn will lose vigor. So, all farmer need to do is to stop trimming hedges every year*. You can even get paid to do that - it's win win.

So why don't  all farmers do that? It beats me.

*it's not just about trimming because, even alternate years trimming, means you get a line in a hedge where it is topped to every time. In the end a hedge like that becomes a series of stumps.

The answer? Hedge laying. And you can get paid to do that too! Win, win, win.

There'd be the major downside of having to deal with Natural England or someone else and its stuffed with people who have the same grotesquely antagonistic pious attitudes.

Cutting growth with flail if it's more than a year old results in spiky chunks that fly for yards and are spectacularly good at causing punctures.

Despite your odd opinion this is also a good way to get a hedge that resembles a line of stumps.

Blackthorn will create a wonderful dense stockproof barrier if trimmed annually.

The laying instead of flailing, well there are some advantages but it is quite a major disadvantage that to do say a 100 metre length would take days if not weeks and is frankly damned cold hard work especially if you aren't in the flush of youth.

Whereas it could be trimmed on a bitter winter day from a heated tractor cab in about ten minutes.

Then of course a hedge that has been laid isn't stockproof for several years so you also need fencing usually both sides which is several more days hours if not days of work and £100s in materials.

Hmmm tricky one.

We (to sneer back, sneering being your preferred language) aren't you 'the smart one' for not going for the Stewardship we did then....

I stand to be corrected and probably criticised into the bargain.

I think what tends to happen is that trees and shrubs flailed to the same height every year obviously develop thicker stems and thus smaller growth gets crowded out. The tendency of for a hedge to become dominated by stems/trunks. I can see the effect on hedges where I live.

The other crucial point is that flailing every year cuts of both any eggs laid on last years new growth but (in the case of thorns) flowers too as flowers are not on new wood. But on our hedge, only flailed every other year, you can see last years blackthorn twigs are festooned with flowers.

Further, hedges that have been laid develop new growth at the base of the hedge by the hedgelaying cuts  - this thickens the hedge and invigorates it.

To be clear I AM NOT against flailing, but I am against flailing every year. I am also not against flailing roadside hedge every year - they need to be safe.

[color=var(--bs-body-color)]https://hedgelink.org.uk/cms/cms_content/files/74_the_economics_of_sustainable_hedge_cutting_%28cranfield_university_1995%29.pdf[/color]

and from [color=var(--bs-body-color)]https://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0030/17598/SPECIFICATIONS-Hedgerow-management.pdf[/color]

Shape

An ‘A’ shaped or topped ‘A’ shaped hedge has advantages for wildlife. An ‘A’ shape

promotes thick growth at the hedge base which is important for food and shelter for

wildlife. A shaped hedges also provide an effective wind break, directing the wind over

the hedge. Tall, thick hedges with woody outgrowths are of the greatest value for

breeding birds. A rectangular shape normally means that one side of the hedge is

severely shaded, which will inhibit growth.

Don't doubt it.

But, in my part of Devon 'A' shaped hedges are unusual as the hedge usually grows on some sort of rectangular soil/stone bank.

And for me (as I'm increasingly concerned about wildlife) it's to not flail all new growth off every year that is important.

But as the years passed after flails become standard pieces of farm equipment, this appeared not to be the case. Flailed hedges regrew perfectly well whether flailed or trimmed with a reciprocating cutter.

You can certainly notice the skill set of flail operators from the way hedges look after a trim.

Some operators are botched butchers and make a mess of the job. Occasionally I’ll come across an incredibly neat A shaped hedge. A classic in TLC as you go through Affpuddle to the Puddletown bypass near me.

A real mess of a cut though as you head towards Osmington from the Owermoigne bypass. Most of you won’t know these of course but they are there and I’m sure you can see plenty of examples of both if you drive around. But yes I would agree for certain butterflies you need to trim on a two year basis. It can be achieved well enough if staggered.

https://ptes.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Healthy-hedgerows-on-your-land-leaflet-2023.pdf 

Folks may not appreciate that some bats use hedgerows for navigation in otherwise featureless agricultural landscapes, and breaks in familiar hedges are from their pov a bloody nuisance. One example:

https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/sites/default/files/2021-01/Hedges.pdf