looks like the spiders have been busy lol !!!! I thought at first glance it was cotton grass but no. Sorry dont know

Looks like some very busy tent caterpillars, Allan! Spinosad works pretty well on them, otherwise not much in the way of organic control. The "tents" they spin are good protection from their predators.

Yes, I agree that it's full of caterpillars. One of nature's wonders. Leave it alone (it would be hard to clear up anyway!) as the caterpillars will be food for birds. I had a similar thing in a tree once, but only the once, so it should happen every year.

Is that a hedgerow? I thought it was a big pepper patch! Probably too early for peppers that big in the UK. If a hedgerow, I'm with Volunteer--the caterpillar droppings will fertilize rapid growth this summer, after the 'pillars are gone, and they'll feed a generation or two of predatory wasps, and some of the smarter birds.

My sister and I saw the same thing between Horsham and Guildford and wondered what on earth it was. It was there for quite a few weeks and then disappeared.