Rescue remedies

Pembrokeshire hedges are field boundaries constructed of a mixture of stones and earth, the two knitted together by the roots of the turf, plants and shrubs that grow on and into them. The durable organic structure that result forms a habitat for birds, insects and mammals all of which find shelter, nurture and safe passage along these living corridors.

Here there's moss and lichen on the stones, ivy and penny wort growing between them, brambles and thorn bushes along the grassy top, and the white flowers of scurvy-grass so-called because the ascorbic acid in the shiny leaves once saved sailors from the ravages of vitamin C deficiency on long ocean voyages, centuries before the cause was discovered. The disease destroys the collagen which holds our bodies together and keeps our cells intact: without it our tissues dissolve and blood leaks out of our organs. Scurvy grass is no longer used as a remedy but the hedge banks still do their job of containing and separating units of the land, keeping things in and out, fastening the landscape together .