Cycling UK Forum

The countryside seems to be awash with hedge clippings at the moment.

I understand that farmers aren't allowed to cut hedges after 1st march due to birds nesting in them, but they seem to be cutting as many hedges as they can before this deadline and leaving the clippings all over the road. My wife got a large blackthorn through here Gatorskin tyre today, which is the last thing we needed in the freezing cold.

Same thing happened to me on the way to work a few weeks back, saw the residue on the road and took a wide line to avoid but not wide enough. Came out after work at 22:00 to a soft front tyre so did a pump n run which worked for 5 miles then it went down quicker than I could pump it up so had to walk the last 2 miles.

Big T wrote:The countryside seems to be awash with hedge clippings at the moment.

I understand that farmers aren't allowed to cut hedges after 1st march due to birds nesting in them, but they seem to be cutting as many hedges as they can before this deadline and leaving the clippings all over the road. My wife got a large blackthorn through here Gatorskin tyre today, which is the last thing we needed in the freezing cold.

I was not aware there was any restriction on farmers cutting hedges but if that is the case they missed an opportunity to include a clause to clear it up as well. I was out during the week and passed a tractor and flail cutting, I got smothered in the stuff, the ****** wouldn't stop while I passed.

binsted wrote:I was not aware there was any restriction on farmers cutting hedges but if that is the case they missed an opportunity to include a clause to clear it up as well.

Section 148 of the Highways Act 1980 (quoted here): they already have a duty to clear up

squeaker wrote:

binsted wrote:I was not aware there was any restriction on farmers cutting hedges but if that is the case they missed an opportunity to include a clause to clear it up as well.

Section 148 of the Highways Act 1980 (quoted here): they already have a duty to clear up

Thanks for that, I am always amazed at the depth of knowledge of these forums, I cannot imagine furthering my knowledge by reading the Highways Act as bedtime reading

Anyway there is obviously no appetite to police the clearing up bit in Hampshire.

squeaker wrote: they already have a duty to clear up

A duty which is, however, almost universally ignored, and denied when pointed out.

As a regular country lane cyclist I can state that hedge butcherers never clear up their mess. How can I claim for the cost of inner tubes

I've linked this on related threads before. People may be interested that HSE guidance also applies.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ais21.pdf

It implies a duty elsewhere (not under HSE?) to "clear debris from paths and roads". Also the need to be aware of cyclists - whilst cutting.

Plenty of info here in this CTC briefing note. http://www.ctc.org.uk/file/public/veget ... ncebrf.pdf

Plenty hedges trimmed round here, every year too. I did 18miles in the freezing cold this morning, and much of my ride was along roads strewn with debris.

Never had any problems with thorns.
I had one in a tyre once, but I never found it for a day or two when I notice a tyre going a little soft before going out for another ride.

Mick F wrote:Never had any problems with thorns.

That's almost certainly a consequence of the botanical composition of the local hedges. Here in Devon the hedges are dominated by beech and hazel, with little hawthorn or blackthorn. I therefore get very few thorn punctures. Very different when I lived in Yorkshire, where hedges are hawthorn-dominated.

Yep. Maybe you're right.
I was thinking about this very thread only a couple of hours ago.

I was walking to the pub - and back - earlier and treading through the bits on the road from Albert's field. Sycamore, birch, ash, hazel, beech, dead bracken ... but no thorns. That was over a distance of a few hundred yards ............ but today on the bike over 18miles, I saw lots of hawthorn hedges being flailed and cut.

We do have blackthorn hereabouts, but maybe not enough to be a problem?
Hawthorns are soft and almost harmless, but blackthorns are viciously long and hard.

We are having the same problem around Milton Keynes. I understood that the NFU once adviced their members to use shields on their cutters to stop the thorns flying through the air and landing on the adjacent road. I don't how technically difficult this is but farmers tend to be a law to themselves. On roads the thorns get swept away fairly quickly by motor vehicles but on off road routes, such as the National Cycle Network and canal towpaths, where the landowners seem to delight in planting thorns alongside the route, it is more of a problem with thorns remaining for a lot longer.

I believe the Spring/Summer hedge cutting restriction on farmers to allow bird nesting is not mandatory but advisory. However, most seem to follow the advice.

pga wrote:We are having the same problem around Milton Keynes. I understood that the NFU once adviced their members to use shields on their cutters to stop the thorns flying through the air and landing on the adjacent road. I don't how technically difficult this is but farmers tend to be a law to themselves.

I've stopped and observed this when such shields are being used by conscientious farmers,they're very effective,dropping 90%+ of cuttings at the foot of the hedge.
There's nothing technical about these shield/deflectors they're simply lengths of old conveyor belt material or similar,which can possibly even be bought commercially bolted to the long side of the cutting head.
I even joined the NFU forum to discuss the matter with them,the response varied from understanding to outright anti cyclist rants,which where mainly from contractors.
We live in a land where some take ouright delight in making other people's lives as difficult as they can

reohn2 wrote:

pga wrote:We are having the same problem around Milton Keynes. I understood that the NFU once adviced their members to use shields on their cutters to stop the thorns flying through the air and landing on the adjacent road. I don't how technically difficult this is but farmers tend to be a law to themselves.

I've stopped and observed this when such shields are being used by conscientious farmers,they're very effective,dropping 90%+ of cuttings at the foot of the hedge.
There's nothing technical about these shield/deflectors they're simply lengths of old conveyor belt material or similar,which can possibly even be bought commercially bolted to the long side of the cutting head.
I even joined the NFU forum to discuss the matter with them,the response varied from understanding to outright anti cyclist rants,which where mainly from contractors.
We live in a land where some take ouright delight in making other people's lives as difficult as they can

Contractors are often not the best drivers either- moving too fast along the public roads, often long distances to the next job.
They may be under a lot of time pressure, but that is no excuse.

The shields work surprisingly well. I've gone along a narow road while they were cutting, and almost nothing ended up on the carriageway. At first I thought they must have a hoover on there it was so effective. OTOH was on one road last year where I came round a bend and the entire carrigeway was covered in blackthorn, right across the road, for quite a stretch, even though the road was wide enough for 2 cars to pass each other. How I didn't get a puncture still amazes me. I rode it like a slalom, never before had I to steer so accurately!
Had to take a longer alternative route back on a dual carriageway to avoid it. All gratitude to the Ribmo tyres....