Yes a solid fence is not good against a strong wind as it causes an undertow, and can knock the fence flat. Something porous is much better. We protected our veg garden and polytunnel with 6' high green mesh, on deer stobs and giant strainers. It lasted over 20 years until the hedges grew enough to create their own microclimate.
Our hedges vary a bit as we didn't plant them all at the same time. We have used a mix of native hedging species including hawthorn 50% for the outside row, as hawthorn is tough and protects the inside row. The other 50% is made up of more hawthorn (about another 10%), holly, alder for wet patches, rowan, hazel, field maple, beech, oak, hornbeam, a few spindle with interspersed trees such as cherry, birch, Scots pine, crab apple, wild and dog rose, whitebeam, ash (but not now with ash dieback disease - you can't buy ash even if you want it). Elder is good for wildlife planting, but not in a hedge as it shoves itself a large space then after about 50 years it dies off and leaves a wide hole in the hedge. In the early days we did plant some wild privet, only to discover it's a bit toxic to livestock. The most hateful tree to me is Blackthorn; it has evil thorns which scratch and don't heal and leave scars that hurt, and it also is invasive, making a large impenetrable thicket which is hard to control. It does have pretty very early blossom though. A much nicer thicket is made by a certain rose. I can't remember the species but it has glorious white flowers early, then it gives itself up to the wildlife, with birds nesting in there, rabbits burrowing, small mammals and insects living where the fox and birds of prey can't reach them.
As well as hedges, we have a coppice for firewood and sticks for beans etc. It's tiny so won't supply all the wood we need, but we have planted up the floor with snowdrops, primroses, wood anemones and bluebells, to look like a real piece of coppiced woodland (I grew up next to the oldest piece of wildwood in Norfolk, which had ancient coppiced trees in some areas, which I loved). We also planted a spinney on a rough piece of ground which was quite contaminated so couldn't be used for anything else. It has birch, holly, a few elder and willows, oaks, hawthorn, rowan, hazel, apple, cherry and roses and again the floor is planted up with various wildflowers and a few garden flowers from Mr F's over enthusiasm!
This past winter we planted two areas of trees in strips down each side of the road, which goes right through our property. All bar an American red oak are native species, with a pine and heather patch at one end, an alder area where the water runs off the road, with lady's smock and a few other wet loving plants below. The very first willow sticks are just starting to break into leaf in these strips, which is quite exciting. There are still over 100 more wildflowers to plant. In our 'wildlife strip' which is maturing now and runs down one side of the road, we also have juniper, as it is so very rare now, and is a tree which used to be found in abundance in South Lanarkshire, but no longer.
You are close enough to get trees from
www.cheviot-trees.co.uk, just on the Scottish English border. We have sourced trees from various different places, but Cheviot supplied the best so far and are really helpful and pleasant. Their trees come in cells, which are slightly more expensive to buy than bareroot, but you could collect them yourself to save on transport costs which can be high for trees. Each tree needs to be protected with a tree guard, and Cheviot do a biodegradable version (removing ancient tree guards is hell!).
If you study the weather for a year or so at your place, you will see where copses or hedges would be suitable. We have taken 25 years to (almost) complete our tree planting, discovering where the prevailing wind comes from - here, every direction! ; where the soggy areas are when there's a wet winter, where the soil and rock is less permeable or drains well, and where your animals need shelter. I think that where you have enough land, a series of copses or spinneys carefully sited can slow the wind almost better than a hedge. We don't have enough land to try that but it could work.
You asked of we planted our trees specifically for the windbreak effect. Yes, but not only that. Other reasons were as shelter for livestock, as amenity ie beauty, for privacy, for nesting sites and pollen and berries for birds and bees, to provide hiding places for insects (we don't keep the area under hedges clear for that reason), for foraging for us, and hopefully for part of a wildlife corridor from the river in the valley to our north, all the way to the river in the next valley to our south - a few landowners still need convincing. We also harvest bean poles and firewood, and feed our sheep tree hay, or whole branches cut for them in the winter.
As well as all the trees I've mentioned, we have a lot of willows, which were the first windbreaks we planted. They grow so quickly and help to shelter the slower growing trees and hedges. Their roots do spread a long way and they suck up water rapidy. Some willows and poplars can grow extremely tall, and in a windy area they can break and cause damage, so take care where you plant tall trees.
We don't have deer here although occasionally one has jumped in, but hares can be a pest nibbling tree bark when it's snowy, but we don't complain - their need is greater than ours.
Our hens are free range but never leave our land. Their favourite areas are the fruit cage, where they do a lot of good raking up pests, and under the hedges. Hens are originally forest birds so they really love scratching about under trees and bushes
