Hedgerows and Hagstones

Hedgerows and Hagstones Formerly The Foraging Course Company. Providing engaging courses, walks and talks on plant and fungi science, folklore and history

21/09/2026

PLANTS OF MURDER, MEDICINE AND MAGIC

Due to popular demand, we’ve added an extra night in Worcestershire

An illustrated talk revealing the fascinating stories behind plants that have been used to poison, to heal and bewitch throughout history.
Discover plants associated with notorious poisonings and infamous crimes, including some surprisingly familiar species. Find out how plants and their compounds have been used in medicine, from traditional remedies to drugs still used today.
And delve into the magical uses of plants — from witchcraft and folk magic to charms, spells, protection, divination and beliefs that have survived for centuries.
Expect poisonous plants, powerful medicines, peculiar superstitions and plenty of stories about species whose histories are far stranger than their appearance might suggest.

4 November 2026 | Abberley Village Hall, Worcestershire

7pm–9pm | £15 per person | Adults 18+

https://www.foragingcoursecompany.co.uk/plants-of-murder-medicine-and-magic

20/09/2026

We ran the first of this year’s fabulous fungi walks at the weekend and one sharp-eyed participant spotted this amazing looking specimen - the ping pong bat fungus (Favolaschia claudopus). Once thought of as a rare find in the UK it is now considered invasive and cropping up everywhere.
What might you find on one of our fabulous fungi walks?

14/09/2026

This is the final date we’ll be running for this walk in 2026, so if you’ve been meaning to join us, now’s the time to book.

Step beyond the hedgerow and into a world where wildflowers carry stories of healing, protection and magic.

Our Wildflowers & Witchcraft walk weaves together botany, myth and Britain’s rich plant folklore as we explore meadows, woodland edges and ancient beliefs hidden in the landscape around us. Whether you’re fascinated by folklore, love wildflowers or simply enjoy seeing nature through a different lens, this is a truly enchanting experience.

Check out some of the amazing reviews we’ve had on Google and social media.

Book your place via our website before they are gone!
https://www.foragingcoursecompany.co.uk/wildflowers-and-witchcraft-walk

09/09/2026

PLANTS OF MURDER, MEDICINE AND MAGIC

Due to popular demand, we’ve added a night in Worcestershire

An illustrated talk revealing the fascinating stories behind plants that have been used to poison, to heal and bewitch throughout history.
Discover plants associated with notorious poisonings and infamous crimes, including some surprisingly familiar species. Find out how plants and their compounds have been used in medicine, from traditional remedies to drugs still used today.
And delve into the magical uses of plants — from witchcraft and folk magic to charms, spells, protection, divination and beliefs that have survived for centuries.
Expect poisonous plants, powerful medicines, peculiar superstitions and plenty of stories about species whose histories are far stranger than their appearance might suggest.

17 November 2026 | Abberley Village Hall, Worcestershire

7pm–9pm | £15 per person | Adults 18+

https://www.foragingcoursecompany.co.uk/plants-of-murder-medicine-and-magic

The jellied bolete - Suillus flavidusConsidered rare, this small pine partnering bolete was absolutely everywhere at a s...
07/09/2026

The jellied bolete - Suillus flavidus
Considered rare, this small pine partnering bolete was absolutely everywhere at a site introduced to me by some estate workers in the Highlands. I first met it a couple of years ago when there were a handful of fruit bodies - this year I reckon I passed several hundred.
Called the jellied bolete because of its jelly skirt/ring.

Golden chanterelle - Craterellus lutescens aka Craterellus auroraI was introduced to this for the first time two years a...
05/09/2026

Golden chanterelle - Craterellus lutescens aka Craterellus aurora
I was introduced to this for the first time two years ago at a very small patch with at most 30 fruit bodies. This year, thanks to Highlands locals I have got to know over the past year, was somewhat different. Literally 10s of thousands of them in a sphagnum bog, where they like to grow.
Note the more orange stalks and flat false gills compared to a winter chanterelle - C tubaeformis

This year’s Highlands trip wasn’t as long as originally planned but was nonetheless fruitful.Without doubt the best seas...
05/09/2026

This year’s Highlands trip wasn’t as long as originally planned but was nonetheless fruitful.
Without doubt the best season I have experienced there for fungi. Absolutely insane amounts of boletes, chanterelles, milk caps, brittle gills and puff balls.
So many penny buns and pine boletes it started to get boring finding them!
Thanks to befriending a few locals over the past year, I was lucky enough to be shown a lot of new sites that are hotspots. My walking pace was ridiculously slow trying not to damage the sheer volume of fruit bodies on the woodland floor.
Always a great time here but this visit was certainly a standout!
It’s certainly geared me up for our upcoming fungi walks starting in a few weeks’ time

31/08/2026

PLANTS OF MURDER, MEDICINE AND MAGIC

An illustrated talk revealing the fascinating stories behind plants that have been used to poison, to heal and bewitch throughout history.
Discover plants associated with notorious poisonings and infamous crimes, including some surprisingly familiar species. Find out how plants and their compounds have been used in medicine, from traditional remedies to drugs still used today.
And delve into the magical uses of plants — from witchcraft and folk magic to charms, spells, protection, divination and beliefs that have survived for centuries.
Expect poisonous plants, powerful medicines, peculiar superstitions and plenty of stories about species whose histories are far stranger than their appearance might suggest.

13 October 2026 | Black Pit Brewery, Silverstone

7pm–9pm | £15 per person | Adults 18+

https://www.foragingcoursecompany.co.uk/plants-of-murder-medicine-and-magic

17/08/2026

Hummingbird hawk moth

Is it a bird? Is it a moth? Or is it something altogether more magical?

The extraordinary hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) has long seemed like a creature caught somewhere between worlds. Neither quite bird nor quite insect to the eye, it hovers almost impossibly over flowers, its wings reduced to a blur and its long proboscis reaching deep into the blooms.

Perhaps it is little wonder that folklore has gathered around such a strange visitor.

The hummingbird hawk-moth is traditionally regarded as an omen of good luck. One of the most enduring modern legends surrounding it dates from the Second World War. On D-Day (6 June 1944) a number of these remarkable migrant moths were reportedly seen crossing the Channel: the same waters being crossed by allied forces bound for Normandy. The sight subsequently became entwined with the moth’s reputation as a bearer of hope and good fortune.

In parts of France, the hummingbird hawk-moth was known as the porte-nouvelles (“news-bearer”) its sudden appearance believed to herald the arrival of tidings.

And then there is the more modern fairy lore.

Hummingbird hawk-moths are sometimes said to appear in gardens where the fair folk feel safe and welcome. Their strange ability to hover seemingly motionless before suddenly vanishing away at astonishing speed makes them wonderfully liminal creatures: visitors that seem to blur the boundary between the ordinary world and somewhere altogether stranger.

So perhaps, when one unexpectedly appears among your flowers, the question isn’t simply “Is it a moth or a hummingbird?” Perhaps it’s
“Is it a moth — or did I just glimpse a fairy?”

11/08/2026

We’ve been getting loads of requests for more of these walks in different areas so we are thrilled to announce new dates and venues in Cambridgeshire and Derbyshire, plus a second venue in Norfolk. This is in addition to those already scheduled for Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire.

Forget the fairy tales you thought you knew.

For centuries, stories told of strange and unpredictable beings lurking at the edges of the human world. The fair folk could enchant, deceive, punish, abduct and terrify — and encounters with them were rarely something to be wished for.

On our Scary Fairies dark folklore walk, we delve into some of the stranger and more sinister traditions surrounding Britain’s fair folk. Discover tales of dangerous fairy rings, mysterious disappearances, eerie lights, uncanny music and the ancient beliefs that once made certain woods, trees and waterways places to approach with caution.

Blending folklore, mythology, history and plenty of dark humour, Scary Fairies explores a very different fairy world from the one most of us grew up with.

Perfect for lovers of folklore, ghost stories, mythology and the wonderfully weird.

Are you brave enough to venture into the world of the fair folk?

Find out more on our website: https://www.foragingcoursecompany.co.uk/scary-fairies-walk

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Coventry

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+442477360222

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