Announcing ‘Hedges in Wales’ a Poetry & Fine Art Collaboration by Rona Campbell & Claudia Frost

The original cover of the poetry book "The Hedge" (1988) by Rona Campbell, which is currently out of print, features a painting by the renowned English artist and printmaker John Piper.

Dear Readers,

I’m excited to announce an exciting project and reissue of poems from my book The Hedge by Rona Campbell, in collaboration with Claudia Frost, a fine artist and scientist.

A collaborative, evocative, and timely collaboration exploring the environmental and biodiverse significance of hedgerows across the Welsh landscape.

This book reissue will be part of a broader project titled “Hedges in Wales”, which will be an interdisciplinary initiative combining environmental awareness, visual arts, and public engagement.

Rona

Poem: The Characteristics of a Straight Hedge  

A straight, narrow, miniature, manmade wood, 

or a navigable passageway,  

where the four-footed,  

pore, claw or pad, can  

cross over an open, agricultural,  

space under cover in the summer.  

But in the winter, when bared to the  

naked eyes of airborne predators, 

that negotiate their high and  

low approach, 

at speeds that stun small birds,  

they only leave a posey of  

feathers on the open ground 

to mark their death’s spot. 

 

© The Characteristics of a Straight Hedge  

Rona Campbell 17.07.2025 

Field under the Allt Wood near Sennybridge South Wales