Fogfield as it should be

More communication mix ups meant I was expecting to be met by Barry for a two man walling team. Thankfully Catriona also turned up so we were able to replicate the working arrangements from last week; 2 on the wall 1 on the stile.

Catriona  was initially frustrated with the stones lack of willingness to do what it was told, but gradually got back into the swing of things after such a long leave of absence.

A couple of Walkers who hail from further down Low lane asked for Duncan but we had to inform them that he's swanning round the Greek islands at the moment.

The mediterranean temperatures of last week didn't last long and  Fogfield reverted to type as the rain gently pattered on us in a nice warm(ish) shower. We decided to vacated the site at 3ish before a met office promised soaking.

 

Progress on the stile

 Main Wall progress

Richard H.

No Wallers: 3

Catriona , Barry, Rich.

Cool as a cucumber

Well, we've re-started walling after a short break. There are certain restrictions due to some sort of Global emergency. We also seemed to pick the hottest day of the year so far to reconvene (At least 2m apart!) 

The planned 2 walling locations did not happen due to ineptitude on the co-ordinator's (Mr R Howard) part, so 3 wallers went to Fogfield, which was completely, and I can't stress how amazing this is, dry underfoot.

Barry and Roderick worked at either end of the main wall, whilst I was some 50 yards away perspiring over a squeeze stile. To say that I was hot would be an understatement, I had drunk the 2 litres of chilled water I brought by lunchtime. Whilst I looked like a drowned rat, Barry and Rod seemed completely immune to the heat, working away with cool efficiency.

Clive, the landowner, brought his digger down for a play in order to help with drainage around the stile. Mechanical diggers, it seems, are a good way to provide extra loose soil for manual labourers to shift. 

Enough rambling - some pictures:

The stile at the beginning of the day and a lunch (forgot to take photo at end of day)

 

 

Clive with his digger and extra help 

 

 

The beginning of the day

The end of the day

R. Howard

No Waller: 3

Rich, Rod and Barry.

Legless Hermione

The Great Wall of Stainley. 

The garden has matured nicely although the rockery proved too much of a maintenance burden so it’s now just another area of rock and gravel.  The big news is that Hermione is no longer guardian of the wall!  It may have something to do with one of her legs rotting off, but she now resides in the bushes at the end of the right hand wall, looking faintly miffed (see below)

The rest of the wall is much as we left it back in the day.  Occasionally, a cope or two gets dislodged by youthful hi-jinks but otherwise it is as solid as …. 50 tons of Ainley Top rock. (more photos below).  Check out that cheek-end and recall the joy of cutting 200-odd coping stones!  Ah! them were the days!

Chris G.

A good Example?

I haven't been able to get to any other of our walls recently, but I thought this section of wall that someone has been rebuilding over the past few years might give us inspiration.

It's near Dallowgill and Kirby Malzeard Moor on  a cycle route I do occasionally. Does anyone fancy placing a few of those small pebbles in the middle of our walls? We should be able to get them in place with a bit of rope and an iron bar or two.

Richard H.

Return to Hackfall

Hi Folks. It's a month since my last walling update. Here's another old wall I managed to run past. I stupidly cycled there, ran, and then cycled back home again. My legs felt like they were made of lead for the next two days.

The old Hackfall wall is blending nicely into the landscape again and thankfully there have been no tree falls onto it, this can't be said for the rest of the woods, where a couple of large trees have come down and there's been another small rock fall in the vicinity of Mowbray Castle.

I didn't meet a soul on the paths, though I could hear a few families splashing about on the mini beaches that border the River Ure as it winds it's way through.

Some snaps of a well hidden wall

Lockdown running

No walling to report on!
Instead here are a few photo's of an old wall at the Jenny Ruth workshop which is near enough that I can run there and back in the rather lovely weather we've been having recently.
I'm happy to report that the small industrial estate seems to be packed full of essential workers! I'm not sure quite how essential steel frame work constructors are at the moment, but they're there if you need them.
Jenny Ruth also seemed to be in operation as did all the other units, though I'm not sure what they all do.
Anyway I shall attempt to visit other walls, by foot or bike, during lock-down to see how they are holding up.
Take care.
Rich

A wasted journey

4 turned up at the start of a very windy day at Markenfield, with a promise that Graham would turn up later. Catriona and Duncan working on the first stint whilst Barry and I worked on the 2nd section. The wind whipped up the dust a treat and Catriona was in fear of being blown across the fields. Barry called it a day at 12ish and the rest of us, thinking it unlikely that Graham would now turn up, decided the wind was too much and trudged up the slope by 12.45ish.
Unfortunately as we neared the car park we spied Graham in the distance. He was very gracious about our early abandonment though I did feel guilty that he had travelled all that way for naught. Thankfully the rain started to descend as we got in our cars, so my guilt was somewhat assuaged.

We got a couple of courses from the top by the time we abandoned:-

  Accidental photo taken by dropping my camera

 At tea break

 As we left

As we left

Richard H.

No. Wallers: 4