When you can sit bare a.....bottomed on the soil!

as a general rule, pruning of hydrangeas is best left till when any danger of frost is passed, I guess it depends on how cold it is in your part of Devon and how protected they are, I would say pruning late March should be ok in the west country.

thanks andythegardner. The plants are in a very protected area near south facing front of my cottage, so warm I have been sitting out in sun today.

It may be warm today, but that growth you're going to prune off protects the buds lower down that would / will be damaged by the cold weather still to come. I live in Cornwall and prune hydrangeas in March or April.

I went to a talk many years ago about the gardens at Trebah which have a sheltered valley FULL of hydrangeas. Tony Hibbert who then owned the property told us that his wife's job was to prune all of the hydrangeas during Lent.

So, hold the secateurs til at least mid March, Diverannie!

Agree with Beattie, wait.