What do a mother-of-four, a chorister, a rugby player, an ornithologist and a catering manager have in common? They are all training to be reed and sedge cutters in the Broads.
The five are receiving Heritage Lottery funded bursary training in a wide range of countryside and practical skills which will culminate in an NVQ level 2 in Environmental Conservation and equip them to become commercial reed and sedge cutters.
They are the second and last batch of apprentices to undergo the 18 month training organised by the Broads Authority to keep reed and sedge cutting skills alive.
The apprentices have the unique opportunity to be trained by professional reed and sedge cutters in a trade traditionally passed down from father to son. As well as working with members of the Broads Reed and Sedge Cutters Association they will be trained by the North Norfolk Reedcutters Association to give experience of coastal reed beds and different techniques. The habitat management techniques have also been broadened to include stock management.
The apprentices will also be trained by other Broads Authority partners including the RSPB, Natural England and the Norfolk Wildlife Trust with theory carried out at Easton College one day a week.
Kathryn Ingham, 34, who has four children aged from one to ten years old, and lives at Little Plumstead, has worked for the last 12 years in day services at Little Plumstead Hospital. She learnt to sail this year at Horning Sailing Club, loves walking in the Broads and is trained in reflexology and Indian head massage.
A childhood visit to How Hill Study Centre where she met her first reed and sedge cutter at the age of 10 left a lasting impression on her and she jumped at the chance to become a commercial reed and sedge cutter herself.
"The Broads is a big part of Norfolk’s heritage and it makes you feel proud of the unique scenery and wildlife," she said. "I would like to become a commercial reed and sedge cutter because it would be good to pass this heritage down to my children. I prefer hard, physical work. I am thrilled to have got on this scheme because I didn't think I stood a chance. When I know more about the industry I’d like to give talks in schools."
Tom Colley, 19, moved from Cambridgeshire to live with his grandparents in Ludham because he wanted to do conservation volunteering on the Broads. Brought up in Hickling, Tom says it was his next door neighbour, reed and sedge cutter Billy Nichols, "who got me into it."
"I have wanted to work on the Broads since I was six,"
he said. For the last year he has volunteered for the Broads Authority four days a week in fen management to gain experience. He is also a keen member of Ludham Church choir.
Tom Bennett, 26, from Tunstead, is a rugby player who ran a business growing and supplying organic vegetables. He has a degree in Wildlife and Countryside Conservation and says he was attracted to the scheme because "it's quite similar to farming and managing the land in a naturalistic way."
"It's an amazing opportunity. It's something I never thought I would have the opportunity to do. To get this type of training and experience in the conservation field all in one package is incredible."
James Allchurch,19, from Ormesby St Michael, has been volunteering for the RSPB, Natural England and Red Cross during a gap year since his 'A' levels. A keen bird watcher and walker, he has been a volunteer warden for the Little Tern colonies at Gt Yarmouth and Winterton and has undertaken practical conservation work.
"I've always been interested in wildlife, ecology and conservation issues. I saw the job advertised first time round, but at that time I was studying for my A levels," he said.
Graeme Hewitt, 37, from Ludham, worked in forestry and horticulture on the Woodbastwick Estate until he was 30. He then took a career change into catering and moved into Norwich, becoming a catering manager. Ranworth born and bred, Graeme, who has a six month old daughter, said:
"I wanted to give her the same sort of upbringing and opportunities I had. I wanted to go back and live and work in the countryside. The bursary training is a really good scheme because it trains you in a wide range of countryside skills."
Reproduced by kind permission of
Broads Authority.
