In mid-December a few of us met to continue trials cutting reed with an Austrian scythe, and to help with the management of a local nature reserve. This was generously hosted by Richard Brown, who has a house just yards from The Saltings, a small nature reserve which he has been involved with on behalf of Heacham Parish Council.
Last year Richard and Simon Damant added a simple willow bow to the snath and timed the cutting of 25 square metres of reed bed at 3’45”. The bow was based on the traditional Norfolk bow, and similar of course to that used to harvest cereal crops. However Richard fitted an angle bracket into the ring clamp, which made the bow easy to lash to, and stay rigid in use.
Gemma Suggitt and I joined the team this year to help perfect the setup. Inspiration comes from Eric Edwards, legendary marshman at How Hill in Norfolk. I first met Eric in 1988 and tried, with little success at that time, to cut reed with his English scythe fitted with a bow, or ‘boyle’ as he called it. There is a recent YouTube video (search for ‘Eric Edwards reed cutter’) of Eric describing, amongst other marshman’s tools, the scythe with boyle, and a ‘pricker’ attached to the boyle to help gather the reed in bundles.
Richard realised that the way to attach this pricker is to make a split in the bow, into which the sharpened peg is inserted. Lashing with string holds the pricker and split bow secure. The junction of the upper nib and the snath acts as a lashing point, where the square section of the wood makes it very firm. On a home-made straight eastern European snath, lashing at this point interferes with the grip. A hole drilled through the snath a few inches below to receive the lashing cord keeps it out of the way, and this setup worked just as well as the manufactured snath.
In Richard’s film you can see how well the pricker holds a handful of cut reed upright throughout the mowing stroke. As with mowing cereals it is important to keep the reed ordered if it is going to be bundled and used. Even if it is not to be used it helps with the gathering process. It remains to be seen whether a suitably placed pricker would work also on a cereal crop.
The last time I was visiting my girlfriend in Austria we found a hewing axe blade rusting away outside in a chopping block. It was in a pretty sorry state with no handle, rust and some horrendous dents and nicks in the blade. The owner told us he used it for splitting kindling and cutting bones and had no idea what it’s real purpose was. My enthusiasm must have won him over because in the end he said I could have it if I thought it would actually be any use to me.
As a greenwood worker from working-class stock, I wasn’t too familiar with working with gold leaf but some advice from John Meadows of Habberley Meadows made it seem easy enough to have a go. Each coil was wound up flat to make the job easier and the edge covered in ‘size’- a PVA gilder’s glue. The gold leaf, which is attached to a sheet of tissue paper, is then simply rubbed onto the surface like a posh transfer. We’re cautious not to spoil the 
natural beauty of the wood with too much gold so hopefully a 2mm line will be enough to catch the light without being too ‘bling’.
Everyone was soon set up with their own station looking out over the reserve to the glorious autumn colours of woodland opposite. Then the noise begins; 8 people all hammering metal, each working to a consistent rhythm but nicely out of time with each other so that the overall effect is some kind of experimental techno dance track. I worked my way round the group making minor adjustments to angles and technique, answering questions and observing 
progress. Once peening was complete I took the group through the process of using a progression of whetstones to sharpen the newly formed edge. I had noticed that this was being neglected leading to a steady deterioration in people’s mowing efficiency and the belief that their peening attempts were only making things worse. By the end of the day the most common comment was “My scythe is sharper now than it’s ever been since I bought it.” and everyone went home with more confidence to continue the process of practicing and learning.
This week I’ve been working with 
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