Shire Horses were first bred in medieval times as warhorses but they became the backbone of agricultural Britain until mechanical methods took over. But since the 2010’s there has been a revival of using shire horses for hay making and meadow management in particular. Thanks to an increasing awareness of the need for increasing biodiversity in the UK, the likes of the National Trust and London Royal Parks has increased the use of low-impact land management including meadow management by using Shire Horses. More locally, Friends of the River Crane Environment has been contracting with Oakwood Clydesdales in managing the Crane Meadow.
Hatton Fields has always been an ideal candidate to join FORCE in partnering with Oakwood Clydesdales to enhance the fields that we all love so much. Aside from the unplanned fire, the grass has not been controlled on Hatton Fields for at least 20 years. While its great to have wild fields, over time the biodiversity decreased because coarse grass tends to dominate other species. This neutralises the soil, and since Hatton Fields is historically classified as the very rare London acid grassland, we have campaigned for at least 2 out of the 3 years of Friends of Hatton Fields existence to start cutting the grass. With thanks to Hounslow Council, we obtained permission to go this year!
In 2024 we commissioned Salix Ecology to carry out a habitat survey and provide independent professional advice on how to enhance the fields. With limited resources, we took the decision to follow the guidance with a summer cut and we hope to harrow in autumn to lift a lot of the dead matter from all the years of neglect. This will allow light and space for species other than the grass to grow. Oakwood Clydesdales came on the 1st June and delivered a partial cut of the first large meadow on the site we know as Hatton Fields. We removed some of the young hawthorn and if you visit you will see there is a large amount of that field now cut. Some long grass and scrub remain for wildlife and for all of us to continue to enjoy. On the 5th, the team returned and collected and baled the hay ensuring the cut grass would not act as a wet mulch causing more problems for biodiversity than ever. Friends of Hatton Fields wish to thank all the community that showed up, including two of our Bedfont Councillors – Russell Haynes and Adesh Farmahan. We hope you all enjoyed the site of ancient agricultural land management.
On the 13th June we are carrying out a habitat survey on the field next to the bottom paddock. This will be used to continue to keep our data up to date with the species that we can find on the fields. We will try and repeat this on an annual basis so we can monitor the outcome of cutting the first meadow. If we can demonstrate that this works, we will try and expand the programme over time, subject to sufficient resources. All are welcome to join Josh and I as we spend a few hours recording species on a random sample basis with our phones, iNaturalist, Google lens and good old fashioned plant identification keys.
