Rick Saunders on the comeback of an old tradition

Scything, the traditional method of cutting vegetation using a shaped razor-sharp blade on a long handle, is undergoing something of a revival in Oxfordshire. Wielding a scythe has a magical quality: it is silent except for the rhythmic swish of the blade as it cuts through the vegetation. This simple movement has inspired many artists, including the American poet Robert Frost, whose evocative poem Mowing is one of my favourites.

The essence of using a scythe is the swing of the thin, sharp blade in a sweeping action that slices through vegetation close to or touching the ground. Cut vegetation is caught in the neck of the blade and deposited at the end of each stroke to create a line of material called a ‘windrow’. Each cut blunts the sharp edge of the blade, so this is maintained by a brief hone with a whetstone every five or ten minutes.

Scythes are valuable and important implements that people have been using for a very long time. Local archaeologist George Lambrick found the long, heavy steel blade of a late Roman scythe at Farmoor. These days BBOWT staff and Oxfordshire volunteers are trained to use lightweight Austrian scythes, with hand-forged steel blades that vary in length and strength depending on the type of vegetation being cut. Most of us use a short, heavy bush blade for cutting reeds where there is often the risk of hitting hidden tree stumps. In relatively clear areas where we’re cutting reeds or grass we use a longer and thinner ditch blade. Traditional grass blades are even longer, thinner and more delicate, and they are a joy to use!

Scythes are conservation tools for all seasons. A summer cut of reeds in Cothill Fen reserves reduces the vigour of reed growth, which could otherwise overwhelm fragile plants in this species-rich fen.

In winter we use scythes to reduce the build-up of decaying plant matter and nutrients in vulnerable sites, and to create diversity of height and depth in reed beds.

A few weeks ago the Oxfordshire volunteer team and BBOWT staff set out to scythe reeds in Sydlings Copse, a gem of a nature reserve near Beckley which abounds with wildlife in a wonderful mixture of habitats. A key feature of the site is a steep-sided valley with a stream at the bottom that runs through fenland and woodland. At the top of one side of the valley is acid grassland with huge, golden-flowered gorse bushes, and the top of the other side is an area of limestone grassland, an important habitat for flowering plants such as pyramidal orchids.

We headed deep into the reserve to College Pond, a reed bed in the area known as swamp. Here the reeds are cut on a three-year cycle to maintain the diversity of habitats and keep the nearby woodland from encroaching on the fen.

The first job was assembling the scythes, then the blade was carefully attached and honed. With eight of us working in teams of up to four in line we set to, the swishing blades laying windrows of cut reed behind us. By midday we had completed this year’s cut. Later, we raked up the cut reeds using hay-rakes and hayforks, and carried them to the adjacent woodland where they will rot down. Then the cut area was cleared and we headed back, tired but having pereformed very satisfying labour.

Fancy it? We are always keen to welcome new members of the work party. Visit bbowt.org.uk and look up volunteering.