The yew hedges at Chirk Castle are impressive. They always have been, ever since they were planted in 1872.

These amazing and beautifully statuesque hedges have stood guard over Chirk Castle for over a century; protecting the gardens from the elements, providing a haven for wildlife and lending a sense of grandeur and drama to an already breathtaking location. However, despite this beauty and sense of purpose it is hard to believe that these hedges are now making a contribution to the fight against cancer.

To retain their splendour, shape and vigour, the Yews at Chirk have to be clipped annually. This is a mammoth undertaking with a team of people working throughout late August to trim the Yew hedges. It takes people on the ground and in the air to achieve this monumental task; and hanging out of a cradle on the end of a cherry picker to trim the top of one of the enormous Yews is certainly a job for the dedicated, not the faint hearted.

To view the majestic hedges, or indeed the complex and daredevil exercise of trimming them, one would never suspect that the waste trimmings were making a valuable contribution to world health.

© National Trust

The Yew trimmings are in fact collected by a company that transports them to laboratories where a naturally occurring active compound is extracted and used in the production of successful and established anti-cancer drugs. This compound can be obtained by harvesting the bark of some yew trees, but this has the detrimental effect of killing the tree and therefore threatening the Yew population. By giving up their trimmings, the Yew hedges at Chirk Castle are able to contribute to potentially lifesaving drugs whilst maintaining their own beauty and longevity.

The trimming of the Yew hedges is a spectacle in itself and makes the stunning Chirk Castle, near Wrexham well worth a visit, but to know that the trimmings are being used in the fight against cancer gives an even greater sense of purpose to an already very enjoyable day out.