Bluebells in the wood

Big fleeces and waterproofs were a thing of the past when Barry, Chris, Val, Roderick, Duncan, Andy and Lycra-clad Rob (24 miles by bike as a warm-up for walling seems a bit extreme) gathered for a bit more taking down and a lot more rebuilding. The stint beyond the gate was given three hefty courses and was then reconnected with the buttress section which, by common consent, was deemed too solid and well-built to need stripping out.  We didn’t quite figure out why the wall had abruptly widened/narrowed at that point, but assumed that an earlier rebuilder had reached the same conclusion having repaired the cheek end after the gate to more normal dimensions.

Everyone was saddened to hear that this would be Roderick’s last session with the group for some, possibly considerable, time.  Half of him is relocating to Norfolk, the other to Scotland, neither of which is an easy commute to/from Nidderdale.  We wish him well on his travels.


Wild life generally was conspicuous by its absence but the bluebells in the wood behind the wall were looking splendid.

 

 

Chris G.

No. Waller:7

A nice Cycle

 Chris, Val, Andy & Rob convened for a fine morning’s dismantling of the next stint, an interesting tumbled structure, double-cased on the wood side. Barry arrived after midday and foundations were laid, Chris & Val then departing while we had a late lunch. A course of substantial stones was laid to finish the day at 3.15.
Rob amazed us by cycling from Leeds !

 

Barry S.

No. Wallers: 4

Double Trouble

 A day of mixed weather for Barry, Andy, Duncan, Val and Chris - dry, sunny morning sheltered from the wind; soggy midday hour; dry and sunny again in the afternoon.

The team completed the stretch of wall between the stile and the gate - a thin course followed by cover bands and double toppers.

 

 

 

Chris G.

No. Wallers 5

Rainy Days

 

Three Wallers (Andy, Duncan and Rod) braved the cold and added a course on each side up to the gate.  Just a thin course and the toppers to finish.

Just one lone walker passed by and she stopped to chat and admire the wall.

The weather forecast was correct and the rain turned to sleet so we called it a day at 12:30. 

Duncan S.

No. Wallers: 3

Jackdaw Gangs

 A beautiful calm Spring morning at Markenfield and dry underfoot for the walk across the field to stile. Rob, Rod, Duncan & Barry added some courses, serenaded by an insistent chiffchaff in the adjacent trees: a gang of jackdaws were less tuneful. The pleasant aroma of wild garlic teased our nostrils as we worked, and we completed the fill for a 2.45pm departure, having made satisfactory progress in the warm sunshine.

 

Barry S.

No. wallers: 4

Double Toppers

A brief but busy ‘bits and pieces’ sort of day for Barry, Andy, Val and Chris. We finished at lunchtime (a pre-emptive strike before the rains arrived!) having brought the wall end by the gate up by a hefty course, having added some copes to the stint after the stile, having levelled up a course on the front of the wall and having revisited the barn to sort out a 100 or so copes to get us eventually as far as the gate.

 

 

Chris G.

No Wallers:4

Cover Bands at Markenfield

 The four of us gathered at M as planned. After some discussion we added a couple of thinish courses and laid on such coverbands as we could lay hands on.  Barry left us at lunchtime and we started on finding and adding copes.  We agreed amongst ourselves that it was best to stop after the first 10 so that we could get a view from others.  Somewhat weary anyway, we packed in at 2:30 having made a bit of progress on the next stretch.

There are a couple of issues.  First of all, doubling the copes doesn’t match the rest of the wall (Barry made the very valid point that this is the stretch most walkers will notice as they approach the stile) but given the width of the wall we don’t have any alternative that I can think of.  Secondly, we don’t have much of anything left in the way of coverbands to complete the rest of this stretch let alone enough river rock to complete the copes. This might mean that, by the time we reach the gateway, we’ll be walling in a different style.  The width is an issue as it tends to point towards heftier walling stone which is now in short supply (no problem at all with fill!). I guess there’s little alternative but to bash on and complete the copes on the stretch that already has coverbands, leaving the ‘what next?’ solution until we get the remainder of the wall to full height.  Any alternative suggestions would be welcome before next week.

Chris G.

No Wallers:4

In car irrigation

 There were only the two of us, guess that Rob - wise man - looked out of the window and opted on staying in the dry as it was a pretty dismal day. We decided that Chris was quite right about the footings by the gate being decidedly narrow so relaid them with much larger stone at over 750mm / 30ins + wide. It isn’t as wide as the surviving bits of wall but seems to be tapering in all right. Some of the joints particularly on the cheek end by the gate look pretty rough, but they are stable.

We pressed on till 2.30 by which time we were both pretty sodden I was blending into the muddy landscape and Andy had come in his all weather - as in all weather in the cab - Land Rover and we felt it was time to head for the warm and dry.

 

 

 

Roddrick L.

No. Wallers: 2

Short and Sweet

 Three of us as advertised today and we managed three courses to bring the wall up to coverband height on the new stretch.  Bright and very breezy day, one kite, three sets of walkers and loads of mud on the approach.

 

 

Chris G.

No. waller:3

No Creatures Great or Small

The expected foursome met up at a generally fine and sunny Markenfield as planned.

We managed three courses on the stretch beyond the stile - one before coffee, another before lunch (which wasn’t called until 13:00 hrs CMT (Catriona Mean Time), and a third, somehow much trickier one, in the afternoon.  We even managed to add three throughs-(lite) as well, of course, as a ton and a half of fill.  The day remained dry (mostly) and sunny but the wildlife (aside from a few walkers) was conspicuous by it’s absence. 

A Mornings activity

T'afternoon

The end of the day!

Chris G.

No. wallers: 4