Exploring the ancient countryside craft of hedgelaying and its traditions in Yorkshire

These are skills handed down among the generations, in cutting and shaping and weaving and laying, and there is a satisfying symmetry to the neat tidy lines.

Now the secrets of the art are to be shared at a special event tomorrow, with tutors to show their techniques while creating natural habitats at a coastal reserve. The event, from East Riding Council, will be held at Danes Dyke Local Nature Reserve near Bridlington.

To assistant countryside access officer Josh Saunders it is all about conservation. Ultimately, it helps the hedges, bringing berries and birds, to support the cycle of life.

He said: "We have a lot of winter thrushes that come from Scandinavia, thousands of them, with blackbirds and redwings, the song and mistle thrush. The first thing they want is to feed on berries, after a 10 or 12 hour flight they are ravenous. This helps to rejuvenate fruit."

Yorkshire's hedgerows define the countryside, made from hawthorn or blackthorn or sycamore and ash. It was farmers that are first recorded as using the hedgelaying technique, partially cutting and bending the stems of small shrubs or trees to lay them flat. In doing so, it encourages new growth. New berries, which in turn bring new birds, that make their nests in the neat rows.

After the Second World War the technique fell out of use, according to the National Hedgelaying Society, with fewer men and more machines. Farmers now can cut the hedges in a process called tractor flayling, at certain times of the year.

"It is what they need to do to maintain the hedge," said Mr Saunders. "But with it, you can lose the berries. The trees, once flayled, take three years to come back. If we didn't have hedgelaying, we could lose lots of berries. This is a much gentler approach."

There is an art to the skill, said Mr Saunders. First there's the hedge, to be 'pleached' or cut into, before it is laid down once more to regrow. Then wrapping and weaving, with wood and stakes, to make sure it's secure. There is a skill to it, said Mr Saunders, in making sure the cut isn't too deep or not deep enough: "We want it to be nice and clean, which is why we do it in winter. The trees are in their dormant stages now. Then summer comes, and they start to grow again.”

He added: "There are not enough hedge layers in all of Yorkshire really, to manage the hedges that we have. It's doing our bit for conservation and nature. We live in a time when everybody is using plastics and pollution. We almost have to give something back."

Tutors will be sharing their expertise with members of the public tomorrow from 10am. The event is free, but places must be booked at www.eastridingcoastandcountryside.co.uk.