Hedges & Hurdles Country Skills & Crafts

We offer “Experiences”, including Hedgelaying, Coppicing, and Wattle Hurdle training courses through to hands-on Wood Craft and Willow Art, Craft & Sculpture workshops delivered throughout the year.

We pride ourselves in using natural materials for the heritage skills we teach and crafts we make. Most of our materials are coppiced and cut locally as part of a sustainable woodland management programme or sourced from growers based locally or elsewhere in England.

Our experiences

Our experiences promote wellness, being outside is great for our well-being and mental health, rhythmic exercise and activities have a calming effect on us, especially when also surrounded by beautiful countryside, woodland and picturesque gardens you can’t help but feel happy and energised.

The outdoor experiences offered are suited to adults, and teenagers with a selection also suited to families. We offer experiences for private groups including corporate team-building events, activities for WI groups, horticultural societies, Scouts, and Guiding groups. Many of our experiences and locations are suitable for those with disabilities too.

Corporate Experiences

You have a great team and want to bring them together and thank them for all their hard work. We offer you the opportunity to do just that by creating an outdoor experience to re-group and get your team’s creative juices flowing and invigorated.

We have various stand-alone activities for you to choose from for either a morning or afternoon workshop, alternatively, we can offer a varied full-day programme or a multi-day retreat.

Get creative with wood and create Wood Art or choose from a wide selection of Willow workshops to weave garden art and animal sculptures, plant supports, living willow projects and more with Lorraine.

Introduce your teams to the heritage of Surrey with traditional Hedgelaying, Coppicing and Wattle Hurdle Training Courses, Rustic Chestnut Gates, Rustic Walking Sticks, Willow & Hazel Arch’s and Rose Arbor’s all delivered by an award-winning Hedgelayer, Paul Matthews.

Locations

Our key locations include:

• Birtley Woodland Art Space, Bramley, Guildford, Surrey
• Gilberts Barn, Flanchford Road, Reigate, Surrey
• Norbury Park Woodland Hub, Sawmill, Mickleham, Dorking
• Sussex Prairie Gardens, Henfield, West Sussex

We also collaborate with other Surrey Hills Enterprise members and other organisations to bring our unique experiences to their locations.

If you have a venue or some suitable land for outdoor experiences in mind we may also be able to offer one of our courses on your site! Contact Lorraine to discuss your requirements and the suitability of the location.

Upcoming events

Visit our website to see all our published training courses and workshops we have on offer. You can also search by location too.

Commercial services

We offer Commercial Hedgelaying services for land owners, trusts, and local councils. In addition, we also undertake Commissions e.g. Willow & Hazel Arch, large Willow sculptures including living Willow projects.

About us

Paul is an experienced tutor, a five-time national award-winning hedgelaying champion, and also an experienced horticulturist. Hedgelaying is a management solution for overgrown hedges widely practised throughout the UK and Europe. Hedgelaying improves the overall structure and strength of a hedge protecting crops and wildlife.

Lorraine is skilled at making handmade crafts from wood she coppices and harvests locally and combines this skill with her teaching experience and ability to deliver personable, varied, and interesting workshops and training courses for all. Lorraine made a huge career change to join Paul and has never looked back.

We both continue to further develop their skills to offer new and exciting courses for our customers to experience!