CPRE Buck’s mini Hedgerow Heroes

Like many other CPRE branches across the UK the team at Bucks are delighted to have visited a local Nursery to educate the children on the importance of hedgerows in our beautiful Buckinghamshire countryside.

We visited to talk to the children about why hedgerows are so important to wildlife and how they can help ‘look after the earth’. Hedges store more carbon than cropped or grazing land as well as offering shelter and a home to a huge number of species. As part of the visit we read ‘The Happy Hedgerow’ to the children and gifted them the book at the end. The Happy Hedgerow was our book of choice as it is the first children’s book to celebrate the wonderful, humble hedgerow.
Elena Mannion’s poignant story brings to life this glorious feature of our landscapes. Somewhere in the folds of the countryside, Old Oak lives content and fulfilled in his hedgerow. When the farmer pulls up the Far Hedgerow one day, Old Oak is dismayed. Can he care for all the fleeing birds? The field is now too open, and the wind and rain are carrying away the soil! Hope is finally restored when a new farmer comes to plant saplings one cold winter’s morning.

The children loved our summary of the story and were left with some crafts to get involved in. Finger painting hedge templates, a ‘how to’ on building your own hedgehog house, a snakes and ladders game, to take home to play with older siblings and finally some themed colouring in pages. Overall the visit was a huge success, we had lots of interest and a few great questions. CPRE Bucks wants to encourage a love for the outside in younger generations, what better way to do it than with this joyful and unique tribute to our hedgerows.

A big thank you to Sunshine Montessori Nursery in High Wycombe for letting us visit.  [Christa McDermott, Office Support]

Link to book here