I RURAL LIFE 1,21704 HE sound of scything ...sw­


eesh, sweesh, sweesh. .Created by the rhythmic -


— movement of the curved blade


through the blades of grass, it is soft- and slightly mesmeric.'


‘ It took the latest group of would-


• be scythers several hours before their tutor felt they were ready to


tackle the practical act of mowing. But now they were in full swing.


Earlierthere had been instruc- '


tion on setting up the scythe to suit the individual, holding it correctly and moving the body to produce ■ ' the most effective motion without


putting unnecessary strain on the muscles.


■ Scything, it seems, is much more than it appears to be. Steve Tomlin, scyther extraor­


dinaire, was first introduced to it in France .while volunteering on organic farms in 2001. "I was given a scythe and I went out with the


farmer and we made hay for about two weeks," he says, as the swallows on Bell Sykes Farm nearSlaidbum skud above our heads in the barn. "Initially I didn't know what I was do­ ing, but every now and again every­ thing came together and something magical happened and the scythe seemed to work for itself." He is on the farm, home to the


county's Coronation Meadow, to deliver one of his two-day scything


courses. A diverse group of eight eager pupils has gathered to learn


this traditional rural skill and, under a blistering sun, he is slowly turning


;• them into competent practitioners. Steve's interest in scything slowly increased after that initial introduc­


tion and in 2005 he bought hisown


. scythe from an importer bringing them in from Austria. "There are'still


•: English scythes around, although nobody makes them here any­ more," he says. "But often you find they're not set up right; they heed to fit to your body. " '


Since then his passion for scy- '


thing has taken him on a fascinating • journey. "I've been involved with the scything festival in Somerset since i t ; was set up 10 years ago, and in 2009 I had my first proper tuition from an Austrian woman who came to the festival," says Steve.


. "She's also a yoga teacher so - her teaching is about using good posture that is easy on the body. ■ I've also been to Austria and Eastern Europe visiting places where scythes : are made and I took part in the hay making in Transylvania."


"■■■ Although this might seem an


unlikely destination, Steve says that Transylvania has some of the lYiost • species-rich meadows in Europe. They have a hay making festival,


which is partly a way of maintaining the skills but also about showing that scythes are still used and becoming


■ more popular," says Steve. "Many people in Transylvania regard scy­ thing as old-fashioned but it has lots-


of advantages, especially because a lot of the land there is steep.


"A scythe is quiet and light, it doesn't vibrate like a strimmer and


. y°u don't need to wear protective clothing. It's a nice experience of ' being outside and working and is very versatile, so you can adapt quickly from 'mowing in a tight comer to working in a larger area o r . cutting around trees without damag­ ing them."


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m m )Li<' m PICTURES: ANDREW SMITH m r w s


SCYTHING MASTER: Steve Tomlin


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There's liore to the ancient skill of reaping than just swinging a blade


Z&dik -mm m m i WV't ■ SC- sm 1^ ! ts&xm PRACTICAL


PURPOSES: Left- Marianne von Tucka and Andrew Bumingham at the scything course at Bell Sykes Farm


i S ' . a & r 1 . Krishen Chauhan hopes it will help him In his


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TRADITION: Peter Blackwell Peter Blackwell's family has been


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farming 143-acre Bell Sykes Farm in Slaidburn for more than 50 years and


the traditional way of looking after the land has passed down through the generations. It's the way we've always farmed


them, he says. "I wouldn't go to -- fertilisers now. I like the wild flowers; they bring insects, which bring small


mammals and now we have two y pairs of barn owls. I like to see the wildlife."


- The gentle way in which the land


is cared for resulted in it being des­ ignated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the late 1990s. Bowland has 50 hectares of grass­ land with this designation, 20 p e r - cent of which is on Bell Sykes Farm. '


. The site is also recognised as one of Europe's special areas of conservation. ' .


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m i f m


Peter has six species-rich mead-


ows covering 12 hectares, and it ■ / is these that are now Lancashire's - •' Coronation Meadows thanks to a ' scheme initiated by the Prince of Wales to mark the 60th anniversary - of the Queen's coronation. Another


three meadows totalling seven hectares are undergoing restora­ tion, with help from Sarah Robinson who works on Bowland's Hay Time'


project. While Peter says the family felt very honoured to have its land ' chosen as the county's Coronation Meadows, maintaining them so that ■


You can also safely use a scythe to


cut underwater as well as in the rain. With several years' experience


of teaching craft skills, including carving green wood, it was a natural


. move for Steve to. include scything in his repertoire. He has now been teaching it since 2010 and is booked months in advancei.partly.due to - . increased media coverage.: ■ And, slowly, the profile of the ;■ ' people coming on his courses is


changing; with more interest from those interested in wildflower ; ' meadows and also professional. '. gardeners, rather than people who, ; - simply wantto:tackle weed-ridden’ allotments..;


C "Everyone who uses a scythe is •


keen to promote the tool, and part of that is teaching people howto use it well so they see how effective it is. There is a skill, a technique; if you use a scythe badly it will give the wrong impression," says Steve. "It's a very rhythmical, flowing


moti-n and when you get it right the scythe works itself and you're very relaxed. When I'm not teaching I mow for my own pleasure. Once you


learn something like this you look at things differently."


• -. In.thefield around him his stu­ dents move tentatively forward, fo-'


cussed on the angle of their blades as they mow the grass, which replies


• with that signature sound... sweesh sweesh, sweesh. ,


'


I love it...itfs like second na|ure...it# Andrew Burningham and.Marianne von Tucka "I loveit


l^rnT0"9 Steve’s latest group,'and keen to‘ " nature.Ifsa learn how to scythe after moving to a prop-. ' mic andnirftajf


erty near Bentham with two%lds to manage. V-; m ap0und^1? Coronation Meadow;; , • thevlr!yk m ® on ^ orejnaturajP1 cess than usingj ftera r^cent vfcft that;-; v -' Chauhan,a"?1


own fiefds into a wildflower meadow --'and; .: to acquire.^'l scything is part of that plan.


n r. , ,n°w planning to convert one of their ‘ ^tudont^t ■ ,-career/ - ?.Z


s:a beautiful movement' ™ ! e and seems likefa mi PQ« . - ?jr*VTrv~ -'* T


biodh/PK^6 S° lm^?SSed the Increased 1 'whidfissoi^ cuts off the senses. ^.^v,,vv or the movements, he is t. at Bell Svlo= •


, jmniental pianagement


is 19-year-old Krishen';%^th'rbugh’the long grass, si from side tosid e^vl il'


. • .nohen is blind and wants* iT S i'.'Scvthino is a □feehnr«


movement, very rhvth--;:Krishen feels that learnina to .rvtKa uuiii xtiljSisI ------


they retain their biodiversity can be a challenge. This is because Peter • is expected to make small bail hay rather than packaging the grass in ; the huge rolls that are a common - T sight in fields around harvest time. ■ "The hay is field-dried so you


need about four days to bail it, which is one of the most difficult things because we live in one of the wettest ^areas in England," he says, agree- ^ ing that, commercially this does not always make sense However, the field-drying,


i an<^ the additional fuming the grass gets during this period, mean that seeds from the V:..- • wildflowers have a chance to drop ­


out, replenishing the ground with ' : plants for the following year. It is


an elegant and natural process that encourages biodiversity, * -■


: v < - •


And for Peter, this js what makes it worthwhile. "Personally I like to see-'


them like this; I wouldn't have them any other way." .


-•V** v>--' 9 /!>*.• ......---------- ? X ,ren»1'* ' ■ .-■.VrU ■A „ „ m m - . >».:v ■ Z r i a SS/^WGHT:


Eight men (and women) went to mow...went to learn how to mow a meadow, as JOYCE BISHOP reveals


Wednesday, Augusts,2014 RURAL UFE n


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