Castle Aching

[Edwardian]

I wish everyone a happy New Year.

 

I pray it will be a fresh start for the Edwardians!

[Shadow]

I wish everyone a happy New Year.

 

I pray it will be a fresh start for the Edwardians!

Happy New Year to one and all.

 

Onwards and upwards.

[Martin S-C]

Thank you James, its been a delight and a source of learning to participate in your thread this year. I wish you and your family joy in the finalising of the house sale and all the very best of all kinds of other things for 2019.

[Nearholmer]

And, very best wishes to you and yours for the coming year Mr Edwardian Sir.

[Northroader]

Good luck with 2019 and a preraphaelite to end the year (they’re all dressed, I’ve failed with this one)

[Hroth]

Good luck with 2019 and a preraphaelite to end the year (they’re all dressed, I’ve failed with this one)F2A21B83-FA91-45DB-8A57-05170D1783F4.jpeg

 

But the moon is just rising, and once the littleuns on the cart are taken home, they'll be showing the rabbits how its done.  I've also got my suspicions about the one with the broomstick....

[nick_bastable]

well look forward to that film 1300 tomorrow on BBC1  https://www.radiotimes.com/film/fmynh7/the-railway-children/

 

 

have a terrific 2019

 

Nick

[St Enodoc]

Very helpful, thank you.

 

I interpret the troops as rifle volunteers, clothed in grey, rather than Militia, who would resemble regular army infantry in appearance. I see the tunic and trousers as intended to appear the same colour; I would have expected some contrast if the artist were depicting red tunics and dark blue trousers.

 

They wear the kepi-like shako that was worn by the infantry post-Crimea until replaced by the home service spiked helmet in the 1870s. I have a feeling it was called the Albert Shako. 

 

The belts are black leather, as opposed to white, which is typical of a rifle corps. 

 

Most interestingly, it looks as if they have a standard, here lowered. I would have doubted that the rifle volunteers would have been granted colours, but there you are.  The Inns of Court Regiment had infantry colours, having said that, but, then, the Devil's Own, raised in the 1790s, were/are not a typical unit by any means. 

Albert Shako - great name for a private-owner coal wagon.

[Donw]

Happy new to all. Its been great fun and I hope next year will keep the standard up.

 

Don

[Les le Breton]

     A happy New Year, to all the contributors to the wonderful world of Castle Aching.

Following your roof truss conversations; the Guesten Hall roof, of the Holy Trinity Church, formerly in Worcester, [before the planning vandals removed it,] now kept safe in Avoncroft Museum might be interesting.

 

 

The Holy Trinity roof in situ

 

 

The Holy Trinity roof saved in Avoncroft

 

 

Close view of the intricate roof structure

 

I hope this post is of some value to somebody.

 

 

He who laughs last has not yet heard the bad news.

Bertolt Brecht

 

“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.”

Terry Pratchett

 

 

 

[Adams442T]

Probably isn't a Standard, as such, though rifle corps generally seemed to have bands, which represented them.  I'm not sure about that though, it seems a little short to be a Standard.

My grandfather was in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, as a serjeant-bandsman, and l do have a photo of him at the Delhi Durbar.

[Annie]

A very Happy New Year to you and your family James and all the very best for 2019.

[Hroth]

well look forward to that film 1300 tomorrow on BBC1  https://www.radiotimes.com/film/fmynh7/the-railway-children/

 

 

have a terrific 2019

 

Nick

 

JA is also in "The Eagle Has Landed" on BBC 2 at 14:50 this afternoon!

[Annie]

Getting back to pre-grouping things and the English countryside, - especially before WW1 it's the classic English hedgerow that has caught my attention.  After checking over many photos of the southern English countryside it became increasingly plain to me after studying some modern aerial photos that the scraggly hedgerow, full of gaps, with all manner of random tree and shrub growth sticking out of it is not at all a suitable image to be guided by when it comes to the pre-grouping era; - it is a modern aberration like dismal diesel locomotives and American fast food franchises.  And like the two sins on the face of humanity I've mentioned as examples they have no place within a pre-grouping railway landscape.

 

The pre-grouping era hedgerow was tidy and well maintained.  It formed an impenetrable barrier to stock and it was a good and healthy thing beneficial to the rural environment.

 

 

This whole business of studying hedges came about through working on rebuilding a southern English digital layout to better reflect the pre-grouping era.  The digital layout's original builder had gone in for mad scraggly hedgerows everywhere using some not very good older digital hedge, shrub and tree models and I wanted to upgrade them to better digital models.  At first I started copying what he'd done until it struck me that I was doing it all wrong.  That led me on to studying hedgerows and their history as well as their place in the landscape and as a result I feel I'm now representing rural East Anglia circa 1913 in a far more realistic and believable way.

 

[Martin S-C]

I find that modern hedgerows, brutally trimmed by giant clippers hefted up on high by a tractor are the wrong shape as they are severely cut back about twice a year and are far too neat. I am sure there's an agricultural term for partly chopping through the trunks of the main hedge timbers and folding them over and interlacing them with smaller branches but for the moment I can't track it down. I do see it though more and more these days and its a delight to see. Some of the almost-dead rural practices are returning with a younger generation of more ecologically-minded land owners and farmers.

 

I do feel though that not all hedges would not have been dealt with in this manner and while those around pasture may have been kept in good order as a barrier to livestock, or those along public highways, those around arable land were left to grow as they might, and so very bushy irregular hedges are okay in the pre-grouping British rural scene.

Photos here suggest a wide range of hedges, from thin emaciated ones to extremely overgrown.

http://www.archive-images.co.uk/index.search.php

[CF MRC]

I would be a little wary of such field boundary perfection. Well maintained hedges could certainly be seen on some well managed and funded estates, but it should be remembered that British agriculture had been depressed since the 1850s and only really came out of it during and after WWll. Consequently, the state of the fields & buildings could be very variable and not always well kept. Also, to make a layed hedge, requires that the original hedge is grown quite tall and hence straggly. This process would be undertaken in a sort of rotation. Another consideration is that some parts of England will always have prosperous farms whereas other, poorer regions with lower soil fertility will be much less well cared for.

 

If in doubt, look at photos!

 

Tim

Edited January 1, 2019 by CF MRC

[Compound2632]

I am sure there's an agricultural term for partly chopping through the trunks of the main hedge timbers and folding them over and interlacing them with smaller branches but for the moment I can't track it down. I do see it though more and more these days and its a delight to see. Some of the almost-dead rural practices are returning with a younger generation of more ecologically-minded land owners and farmers.

 

Laying. I know a Yorkshire Dales farmer who lays his hedges but he's only got relatively short lengths compared to his miles of dry stone wall!

 

Bear in mind also that there were regional variations. Jane Austen was aware of this; when writing Mansfield Park she wrote to her sister asking her to enquire if Northamptonshire was a county of hedgerows - specifically whether it had the type of double hedgerow with a path down the middle that she was familiar with from Hampshire (or possibly Devon). She wanted to use this as a plot device to enable one character unseen to overhear the conversation of others; in the end she used this in Persuasion, for Mansfield Park she had to make use of the artificial avenues of a Gentleman's grounds.

 

See also the writings of W.G. Hoskins, who at the University of Leicester established the first Department of Local History. His seminal work was on Devon hedges, some of which could be dated by reference to medieval charters. He established the rule of thumb that in 100ft of hedgerow, there will be one tree species for every hundred years; I believe this is still thought to be broadly true though with regional variation*. In some parts of the country - the Midlands especially - most hedges date from the late 18th century enclosures, so in the Edwardian period there would be half as much diversity as now.

 

*Dry stone walls are harder to date!

Edited January 1, 2019 by Compound2632

[Talltim]

Dry stone walls may be harder to date, but there are still regional variations. Probably not worth a special visit, but the National Stone Centre near Wirksworth has a selection of examples.

I have a friend who goes to hedge laying competitions, so I get to see examples on Facebook every so often. I’ll have to check out the variations

[wagonman]

Further to Stephen's excellent concise guide to hedges and the laying thereof, a couple of observations: in this part of Norfolk many of the hedges date from Enclosure – generally in the early C19 – and are therefore very species poor. Even poorer are the cases where hedges were grubbed up to create the 'prairies' thought necessary for modern cereal growing only to be replanted a decade or two later under a Countryside Stewardship scheme to stop any more of the topsoil being blown away. But that's modern day madness. Back in Edwardian times the hedges would have been flourishing though whether or not they bothered to lay them I don't know. Surviving old hedges are species-rich just as Hoskins observed. One of his colleagues from Leicester Uni, Peter Eden, had a holiday home at Salthouse and Hoskins would sometime stay there while conducting field trip in the area, which is why this part of the world gets several mentions in his work on Landscape History.

 

The last example of a properly laid hedge I saw was in mid-Wales about 20 years ago, and a remarkable sight it was too. But that was in stock-rearing country in the upper Towy valley so there was some logic to maintaining the old standards.

 

In the sure and certain belief it won't be anything of the sort, may I wish you all a very Happy New Year.

 

 

 

Eeyore

[Nick Holliday]

As others have said, there were regional variations in hedging, and this applied to the bill hooks they used. Almost every county had its own shape of hook, presumably tuned to the techniques used and the commonest plants in the hedgerows. There is at least one website dedicated to this tool https://www.billhooks.co.uk/what-is-a-billhook/

Only a few years ago, here in deepest Londonshire, the local council did a creditable job of hedging to a sportsfield, but unfortunately they never quite got round to completing the work, and they have failed to maintain it since, but this may be down the the external contractors who seem to have a different view on plant husbandry, but a valiant attempt.

[CF MRC]

As a youngster, I had an accident driving the farm mini van. It stopped very abruptly and a whole load of hedge slashers and bill hooks sped forwards through the (thankfully) empty passenger seat. Quite an edifying experience. I recollect seeing hedge laying next to canals, as assuming they own the boundary, it is hard to make access for current large hedge cutting equipment.

 

In 2mm scale I used parts of a loofah as the basis for a layed hedge on my original N gauge layout.

 

Tim

Edited January 1, 2019 by CF MRC

[DonB]

Probably 10 years ago I watched a man laying length of hedge I estimate about 1 Kilometre long alongside a local road. (a regular cycling route in those days).   

He took about 3 weeks to complete the job and appeared to live in a caravan on site, When he finished, the hedge looked just like the picture posted by Annie (above, post #15242 ) although I don't recall the "braiding" of the top branches shown in Annie's picture. .

Driving past it a couple of weeks ago I cannot report that it has been well looked after in the intervening years, probably due to modern Flail-trimming.

 

I believe that there are restrictions / regulations about when hedges  can be trimmed, -- Bird nesting season etc. 

 

Occasionally Hedge laying competitions are held alongside ploughing matches by local farmers. .  

[webbcompound]

If you look at any current hedge you will be able to see whether it was ever layed. Round here (South Northumberland) there are some nicely massacred-by-machine hedges but inside they show the earlier layed structure

[St Enodoc]

See also the writings of W.G. Hoskins, who at the University of Leicester established the first Department of Local History. His seminal work was on Devon hedges, some of which could be dated by reference to medieval charters. He established the rule of thumb that in 100ft of hedgerow, there will be one tree species for every hundred years; I believe this is still thought to be broadly true though with regional variation*.

I recommend his book "The Making of the English Landscape" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Making_of_the_English_Landscape

[Argos]

For a "layed" hedge the Cornish have it nailed:-

 

http://www.cornishhedges.co.uk/abouttheguild.htm

 

I was introduced to the concept of a Cornish "hedge" a while back whilst working on a bid with the team in the Bodmin office.

I couldn't work why the hedging work was being assigned to the stonemasons and not the landscapers.............