PRINCE Charles’ hedge-laying tutor helped volunteers relay 100 metres of hedgerow.

Former landscape gardener John Savings met the Prince of Wales at a summer Game Fair.

By the autumn he was at Prince Charles’ Highgrove Estate in Gloucestershire, teaching the heir to the throne the basics of hedge-laying.

And on a rain-sodden Saturday, John help volunteers from Chiseldon’s Washpool project lay the perfect hedge.

Established in 2006, the project aims to restore a steep-sided valley on the edge of the village.

Once a favourite play spot for Chiseldon children, the valley fell into disrepair and became overgrown.

Hilary Howe, chairman of the Washpool Area Restoration Project, said: “We’re reviving an ancient skill of hedge-laying because it produces a lovely thick hedge.

“What will happen next spring is that these branches we’re almost cutting right off will sprout from the root.

“We’ve lost a lot of hedges across the country. They’re very good for wildlife, which is what this project is about.”

Hundreds of small trees were planted by the volunteers in 2006, with a range of British varieties including hazel, blackthorn and spindle.

Over a decade later, the volunteers spent the day cutting the trunks near the ground, bending them back and weaving them around locally-sourced stakes. In the coming years, the thick hedge will create a sheep-proof barrier – and an important habitat for birds, mice and other wildlife.

Expert John, 74, said that he started hedge-laying 35-years ago after his wife sent him on a four-day course as a Christmas present.

“It started there,” he said. “I went around the country, learning it, doing it. It was fantastic.”

The former South of England champion said that hedgelaying was an important skill to have. Pointing to the line of small trees, he said: “Without laying it, those trees could grow up and if they wanted to keep sheep in it they’d have to put in a fence.

“If you came along next year, where those cuts are there would be six, seven or eight new shoots from that tree.”

The volunteers behind the Washpool project hope that in ten years’ time, the area will be returned to flower-rich grassland.

Hilary, who grew up in Chiseldon in the 1960s, said: “I used to come and play here as a child and then it just became abandoned because this open area has got no commercial value at all. You couldn’t get into it, because there were high nettles and scrub.”

They agreed with landowners Burderop Estate that they would help manage the steep valley.

Hilary said: “There were nettles everywhere. It was very difficult to walk up, because there was just loose soil.”

Nine goats, lent to the project by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, helped to eat away at the nettles and brambles. But they had a habit of escaping – with one having to be rescued from the vicarage garden.

Replacing the goats with six sheep has helped keep the valley sides from being clogged with nettles.

“We’ve put in the boardwalks, we’ve planted the hedgerow, we’ve planted apple trees – all Wiltshire varieties,” said Hilary.

“We’d like this to be a flower meadow.”

Volunteer Paul Maycock, 53, said he enjoyed being outdoors and feeling “a sense of giving something back”. He added: “Like many people, I drive a desk for a living. To come outdoors and contribute something to the community feels good.”

To find out more about volunteering with the Washpool Area Restoration Project, visit www.facebook.com/WashpoolARP or email washpool@gmail.com.