Hooper's Hedgerow History Hypothesis

Max Hooper has just died. He was a proper botanist, who became known because of his work on British hedges in the 60s. From the obituaries and his writing he seems to have been quite a character too.

Like many I came across him because of "Hooper's Rule". This was his rule of thumb - for obvious reasons not definitive - for dating hedgerows. Walk along a 30 metre length of hedge and count the species in it. Multiply that number by 100 and you have a reasonable estimate for the age of the hedge. There was also his work on the extent of the hedge loss in the UK. Hooper uncovered it by looking at RAF reconnaissance photos. 50 years ago we were losing over 10,000 miles a year. 10,000 miles! I didn't think we had that many hedges - and how could we continue to be so casual about them? I was staggered by Hooper's Rule too. I started looking much more carefully at the hedges around our house in Somerset. All around us were early medieval hedges. Given the history of thevillage this was entirely predictable, I suppose, but I was amazed. Amazed that I hadn't stopped twice to think about these important ancient things. Amazed that their diversity and history went unnoticed, at best. I then realised the hay meadow next door was probably pre 15th century. It was suddenly obvious to me that we didn't even begin to appreciate or understand what was underneath our noses. Realizing this and the extent of the destruction to our environment still going on was an important part of my decision to leave the City. There were much more important things to do. I started a business promoting - among things - native British hedge plants. Thank you for helping to convert me, Dr. Hooper.