The sounds and smells of a scythe cut meadow are wonderful, explains Norfolk Wildlife Trust Reserves Officer Robert Morgan.
As I have commented before, meadows are in depressingly short supply, so Norfolk Wildlife Trust has been appealing this summer for support in improving and increasing wildflower meadows in our county.
Understandably modernised farming no longer required them for animal fodder, and most were ploughed out within a generation.
Excluding a few rare exceptions, it is fair to say we lost virtually all of them.
In recent years NWT has been working with landowners, both farmers and parish councils, to return wildflower meadows to our countryside.
I want to try scything, but don’t really fancy swinging a razor sharp blade at ankle height
Yeah, prob best to ask others to stand back!
It was one of the first conservation tasks that I ever did - also in Norfolk, as it happens.
There is a knack to it and there certainly are safety considerations - especially around sharpening them - but you really have to be doing something profoundly wrong to get anywhere near your own ankles.
It is very satisfying once you get the hang of it though.
Scything is good exercise, causes no air or sound pollution and scythes are orders of magnitude easier to maintain, store and maneuvre than mowers. Moving more slowly also gives wildlife more time to be noticed or to move to safety as well. You do need a lot of manpower to cover a large area though!
