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.

My journey to learn more about our county’s new meadows and their traditional management led me to the wonderful discovery of the ancient art of scything.

(Image: Robert Morgan)

Wildlife conservation can involve some heavy-duty agricultural work, for it often requires the use of a wide range of mechanical equipment, both large and small.

Being at the pit-face of conservation I am all in favour of these labour-saving apparatus, without them it would be slow, arduous work.

Although, where possible, conservation organisations are rightly moving over to battery powered machinery – some are even taking a more radical approach and advocating a return to traditional agrarian hand-tools.

Many seasoned professionals scoff at the very idea, so it remains a rather niche activity, but one I wanted to discover more about.

As it turned out, the scythe is not a quaint hobbyist tool for well-meaning amateurs, but a serious and effective alternative to its modern, costly and resource........

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