Ended it at Hillend

A dry day in the midst of Noah's floods meant that Barry, Duncan, Catriona, Roderick and I were able to finish of at Hillend. With Justin providing us with buckets of fill and mugs of tea we were able to put some awkward stone into some awkward spaces and get some large flat copes in place.

The slithery nature of the site hasn't improved with the recent downpours so we're relived to have finished without anyone taking a sudden unplanned sit down in the mud.

Justin insisted we should leave him with the work of tidying up the unused stone despite our eagerness to slither and slide some more, so many thanks to him for providing the site and making our final day at Hillend a little bit shorter.

At break

Some of the gang at tea break

Lunch time

Rear of the wall at the end of the day

Front of the wall at the end of the day

Richard H.
No. Wallers: 6.

Cycling

A late start for Duncan, Justin and me due to the UCI world championships and resulting road closures.  Barry was a bit later still having spent the morning trying to finish another Quaker wall at Scotton. The day was dry but the ground was pretty treacherous from the previous days rain.
Duncan, Barry and Justin finished off the 1st section and put toppers on it whilst I slithered around lower down the wall. We now have a mini check end and a few meters to finish off.
The late start meant an new concept - afternoon tea! with tea and very nice ginger biscuits sustaining us till quarter to five, in time for the roads reopening after the cyclists has wizzed through.

Prior to lunch

After Lunch

Afternoon tea!

Flat Topper on!

Front of the wall at the end of the day

Richard H.
No. Wallers: 4

End in sight?

A lovely bright day for Catriona, Barry, Rod, Graham, Duncan and myself to crack on with Justin's wall. The steepness of the current section was eased by a dry spell so the ground was a bit less slippery than usual, but it still proved a bit awkward to manoeuvre the stone in such cramped conditions.Graham and I worked on the newest section, whilst Barry Rod Duncan and Catriona brought the older section to 1 or 2 courses from topper height.

A mornings work

End of the day

Richard H.

No. Wallers: 6

Hillend

The day started pretty unpromisingly, the journey to site peppered some proper downpours, but apart from a soggy first hour the rain stayed away. The sun came out accompanied by a fine gusty wind which late in the day blew our tea and biscuit tray clean orf the wall. 

Conditions underfoot were still less than ideal as Catriona, Duncan, Rod and Graham slithered in the mud and did a valiant job of clearing and partly rebuilding the last section of wall. Justin, meanwhile, cleared the tumbled section of wall that had fallen down to the pathway, then helped me put flat toppers on the completed section of wall.

We left in dribs and drabs and had all left by 4 o'clock.

The photo's are of the end of the day, unfortunately  my phone had a giddy half hour; when it thought it was 3 AM some time last century, and failed to save the photos I'd taken in the morning; presumably because smart phones didn't exist back then and the photos were therefore an anachronism.

Richard H.
No. Wallers: 6

Back to Hillend

Another good turnout today with 5 of us going back to Hillend. The weather forecast promised a fine rain free day, so of course it belted it down, (in fit's and starts).
Barry sorted out a few problems left over from our last stint whilst Catriona and I brought the rest of the wall up to topper height. Graham and Duncan did the selfless work of tidying up the remaining stone and starting to take down the next section.
We retired to Justin's workshop when the rain became really heavy and called it a day at 2 ish when the combination of wetness and a steep bank threatened our unblemished accident record.

 Front of wall at the end of the day

Back of wall at the end of the day

The fruit of Duncan and Graham's dismantling efforts

Richard H.

No. Wallers: 5

Hot and Sticky

A decent sized team worked in the heat July to add a bit of height to Hillend. Rod, and Catriona worked on the southern end, and was a welcome appearance from Tony who sorted out the northern end, whilst Justin and I worked in the middle. Barry, very selflessly, acted as quarryman and courier, finding useful stone in Justin's ever diminishing stone pile and hand delivering to the wall side.

And the reward for everyone's efforts? Spending their lunchtime filling in blinking AONB forms!

Morning

Lunch time

End of the day

Barry attributed, and photographed, stone of the day 

Start and end of the day (Tony's photos)

Richard H.

No. Wallers: 6

Toads and Newts

Not a lot of building done today,  as Justin, Graham, Catriona and I took down the next section of wall. We're getting to the steep section on both sides of the wall so it's a bit slow going. Apart from shifting stone and muck we came across 5 or 6 toads and a newt who were all re-homed further up the wall.

Richard H.
No. Wallers: 4

Toppers On

Justin Catriona, Graham and I endured the midges of Hillend too put the final 2 courses up and finish it orf with a few upright toppers. Our supply of which is now exhausted as was I after having put some of the larger specimens in place.
Just the other half to go now!

 Just before lunch

 Field side end of the day

 Track side end of the day

Track side end of the day

Richard H.
No. Wallers: 4