We’re delighted to share this digital story, made with Roger who recalls hedging on his families farm near Penzance and taking part in local Cornish Hedging competitions. This digital story was made in partnership with CREST, an exciting new initiative aiming to train and educate our communities in rural crafts and their vital importance to both heritage and maintaining the landscape. Together our hope is to create further digital stories about Cornish Hedging and other rural crafts. So if you or someone you know has a hedging story then we’d love to hear from you.
Honouring memories
The process of deep listening, through oral history and digital storytelling, is at the heart of our work. We were touched to hear Roger’s personal reflections on the process-
Roger with his mother and brother on their family farm
“I think this film is a perfect replica of what we were doing with Cornish Hedging. To think that my thoughts won’t be lost, that’s a lovely feeling. I don’t think it should be forgotten as it’s what our forefathers passed on to us. I don’t think there are all that many who did this (hedging) left so it’s lovely to think that someone might appreciate this.”
It was a pleasure to sit and listen to Roger as he shared his memories and leafed through old photo albums. For generations this skill of hedging would have been passed down from old to young. This skill connects us to the land, to place and to community. It’s clear to us that if rural crafts such as Cornish hedging or withy pot making are lost, we will be loosing much more than the skill itself.
Thank you Roger for sharing with us. And thank you to CREST for getting us involved- we’re excited to see where your journey takes you.
