Posted: Sun Jul 22, 18 9:46 pm Post subject: bullace season
that covers it really.
i got a bit over a kilo today, i must remember to check all the other lines of them .
imho somebody decided they were a better hedge than blackthorn and planted wisely. the various bits of bullace hedge are consistent with the ground plan of the estate that became clifton hospital although they do feature on matron's walk they are also outside what became the hospital grounds which makes me think it is a much older planting scheme.
there is a strait line of willows between that estate and the river that is well old, at a guess from the 1500 to 2000 cm dia trunks they might be rather venerable and a lot older than the estate maps of either the post dissolution or hospital layout as it extends beyond the up/down river edges of both plans.
they do not follow the existing or known historical river lines but they do follow a line for one version of the roman period road north which may well have been considered a "riverside "boundary to a norman holding.
Are they bullace or mirabelle Dpack? I thought that the early 'wild' plums were mirabelle. They vary in flavour; I know where there is a particularly good one in our village. No idea where it came from as it is on the side of a road by a car park, but pretty sure it predates the car park.
As you say, hedges can be informative. We have what was probably a hedge at the edge of the wood which is alongside an old trackway. No idea how old but pretty ancient I think. The hedge alongside our garden contains butchers broom, which is an ancient woodland indicator, is also interesting. Not sure if it was planted, but if not, could be an ancient hedgerow from the estate that was here before the houses. Land divided up in 1920s I think.
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