Filling the Gap

 As is often the case all the good stone had been used lower down the wall so the last two courses involved a lot of trimming and shaping.  Then, as predicted, we (Roderick and Duncan) didn’t have enough toppers to finish the wall so we both started looking for buried toppers or stone that could be made into toppers. 

Duncan started attacking a huge three tonne monolith which had a useful looking overhang but gave up after twenty minutes. 

Meanwhile Roderick found a massive buried stone that we managed to lever out. We subsequently broke this into four pieces which allowed us to complete the wall.  The final line of toppers is somewhat uneven but we daren’t trim them in case they split and became unusable.

Wall at the end of last week

 

Rod unearthing a whopper - subsequently made into 4 toppers

More topper material

A finished Gap!

Duncan S.

No wallers:2

A short Ladder

Another glorious day at Markenfield.  Six of us, Barry, Andy, Rob, Chris, Val and Graham.  Good progress on toppers although getting more difficult to find the right stones. However, should be finished next week . Barry brought along a short ladder to help lift a rather heavy and awkward cheekend topper into place.
Significant progress made on clearing the next section including the removal of a deep routed elder. The foundation course was also completed.  Val was really pleased to lay some stones having spent almost all of two weeks taking down!

Start of the day

Andy adding toppers

Rob removing elder root

New section foundations - Rob and the ladder

Barry surveys the new foundations

Graham D.

No. wallers: 6.

A new year at Markenfield

A new year at Markenfield ; we started there in Autumn 2011!

Barry, Andy, Chris, Val and Graham spent a splendid January day back at Markenfield; nature provided four hares, four red kites, a buzzard, a frog and a mouse.  In return we did some walling.
Given the numbers we took it in turns to do toppers and start dismantling the next section.  The toppers had been delivered as promised and in the cool light of day were an interesting mixture.
Progress on both was strangely slow; toppers took a bit of getting started, while we worked out the best level, and the dismantling was more soil than stone removing..

By the end of a tiring day, we'd completed about half of the toppering and made a sizeable hole in the next section of wall.

Deciding what to do about the toppers

A new section to play with

 

New Toppers on

 

New Toppers on

Graham D.

No. Wallers: 5

First Session of the Year

Roderick and Duncan arrived at Brookside Farm on a clear frosty morning to find the ground frozen solid. 

Arriving at the collapsed section of wall a clear bulge could be seen which Andrew the farmer later explained was caused by a mini landslide. Our first decision was how much of the wall to take down as a partial repair had already been started. Since part of the ‘bulge’ was sound we just dismantled the repaired section plus the loose and unstable stones on each side, although this was later expanded unexpectedly!

By late morning the cold wind eased and Andrew’s sheep came to join us in the field. 

Initially we thought that we could complete the job in one day but as the sun went down over the horizon it became clear that it would need a second visit to complete the repair.

A Happy Christmas to you all

 

It's been another eventful year, but despite the grip of Covid the group has managed an impressive amount of Wednesdays out in the field. Given that we didn't start till April, 30 odd weeks is a pretty decent return.

The delayed start of the year was a bit strange, with us keeping two sites going at once, but at least we weren't slowly sinking into the mud of Fogfield this year, though I did managed to get the car stuck in the mud at Brookside. Thankfully there's the stile at Fogfield to finish off so we can sink into the mud together next year.

I'm sure we were all greatly saddened by the news that our long time host at Markenfield, Ian Curteis had died. It was always a pleasure to have his intermittent visits to the Park Pale. His fulsome and heartfelt praise of our work helped to make the effort seem worthwhile. 

This year has also brought a veritable rush of new wallers to the group, I'm sorry that I haven't been around to meet them, but by the looks of what I've been posting on the blog it's been a great addition to the group, and thanks to you we've finally finished at Fellbeck (almost).

So I hope you all have a Great Christmas and a Splendid New Year.

Ta

Rich

P.S

Thanks to all the usual crew for your messages of support and concern. It's much appreciated. I hope to join you later on in the New Year (I'm not sure when yet, but I'll try to keep you posted)

Finished (Nearly)

Six of us at Brookside farm this week; Andy, Rob, Duncan, Roderick, Barry and Graham.  Andrew had kindly delivered another trailer of stone and provided Andy, Rob, Duncan and Graham with just enough to add a final course and toppers, thus completing some 60 yards of wall started in September 2018. An impressive bit of walling, particularly when you look back at the blog and see how the wall looked originally. We loaded the leftovers onto the trailer, a remarkably small amount considering the length of wall completed.
Barry and Roderick went to the other side of the field and professionally repaired a glaring gap which had been staring at us all year.
Add to all that a fine but breezy day; what more could you ask for.
Duncan and Roderick will return in the New Year to repair another gap but otherwise that's good bye to Brookside farm for the time being. 

 

The whole of the completed wall

How it used to look

A new load of stone

The final section topped out

Barry and Rod start and finish a gap in the adjoining field

Graham D.

No. Wallers: 6

Stollen moments

 A very mixed weather day for Barry, Rob, Andy, Duncan and Graham. Work started early with Barry unloading yet another delivery of stone, courtesy of Andrew who also  has to be thanked for his seasonal gift. Whilst muddy underfoot, reasonable progress was made until mid morning when rain forced everyone into the barn. After twenty minutes we returned to the wall and slightly wetter mud.  By lunchtime it had become quite cold but we carried on and by 2 o'clock another two courses had been completed. Having nearly run out of suitable walling stone, we decided to put on some toppers. All very satisfying, helped by the sun coming out, the wind dropping and  feeling much warmer than a couple of hours earlier. Hardly any  stone left but may be OK to complete next week with  some judicious shaping required. Thanks also to Barry for his stollen handouts.

Graham D.

No. Wallers: 5