hedgerow conservation

A couple of random days between snow, frosts and rain and sunshine tackling the overgrown south hedgerow.
No significant wildlife noticed since the tawny owl - although a mole-hill came up just in front of me with a small snout and front paws protruding, but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo.

The hawthorn is quite high in places along the south hedge line, but sporadically spaced along the 150 meter length of the boundary.
There is probably more gap than hedge, although a good few old dog-roses to conserve and bramble to take down quite a bit. A couple of young ash trees to preserve too.
The plan is to layer the entire length, trying to salvage as much of the original hawthorn as possible and to avoid too much wildlife disturbance in the process. The latter will be a compromise - I think the last time the hedge has been touched looks to have been about 10 years ago.
I'll be filling the gaps with new young hawthorn of regional provenance, as well as putting in a couple of alder and hazel and relocating a few young dog-rose plants.
A few young ash trees will be selectively placed as eventual replacements of the existing mature ash trees.
From maps going back to the late 1700s, there is continual evidence of mature hedgerow trees - but in a parallel row forming a lane in the next field. Apart from one lone oak, the hedge and trees the other side are long gone (non-existent apart from a soil-shadow on a 1970s aerial photo).
I'm quite tempted to replicate / re-establish a linear track within the boundary as green leafy access within my own field and effectively enhancing a green corridor along the field boundary.
The hedgerow rejuvenation is going to take me some time and then the installation of a stock-proof fence along the length...

Friday night on the TV, I was quite interested in Carol Klein's Life in a Cottage Garden - particularly as i got a copy of her excellent Grow your own fruit book for Xmas...