click photos to enlarge
Earlier this year I installed a gate that necessitated taking down a short section of stone wall in order to position one of the gateposts. The wall was completely covered in ivy and had probably been erected in the 1950s. Quite why part of the perimeter of my property comprises a stone wall is a bit of a puzzle since there is no naturally outcropping stone within 15 miles or so, and stone walls are rarely found in this part of Lincolnshire. Perhaps it is down to the whim or fancy of a previous owner who happened upon a quantity of stone.However, the prospect of re-building the wall held no fears for me. I grew up the area of today's photographs, the Craven district of Yorkshire. I regularly walked its limestone hills, and, in my teens, learned something of how to build and repair a drystone wall of the type that characteristically form the field boundaries in this area. For a new section of wall, pegs and lines are placed to mark out the width and length, then the turf and soil are removed. Next, large base stones are laid to take the weight of the wall. Then each side is built, tapering inwards as it rises, with "fillings" of smaller stones placed in the centre space. One, or more often two, bands of "throughs" are laid one third and two thirds of the way up the wall. These are large stones that pass through the complete width of the wall and can project slightly at each side, holding it together and providing decorative bands. The course next to the topmost are the "coverhands", large flat stones that further tie the wall and prevent water ingress, with the final layer being the "topstones" that lay upright, at a slight angle, finishing the wall.
So, I imagine you are now picturing a perfect piece of drystone walling, with, as is traditional, no mortar used, looking the very picture of the waller's skill. Well, it's not quite like that! The stones were all quite small, and I had to break some of those to make them fit. I managed the base course using the biggest pieces, but didn't have enough of these for throughs or topstones, so the wall ended up a bit of a dog's dinner. I had to use some mortar at various points, and I encased all of it in wire mesh for the two-fold purpose of keeping it together, and encouraging the ivy to grow over it again to match the rest of the structure. It was good enough to get a few complimentary remarks from passers-by. However, if my aged drystone wall tutor of all those years ago could see it he'd be rolling his eyes and saying, "Ee, Tony lad, tha's niver goin' ter leave yon wall like that is ter? Tha'll ha ter tek the lot down and start agin! Come on, I'll gi thee a hand."
photograph & text (c) T. Boughen
Picture 1
Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 79mm (158mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
Picture 2
Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11mm (22mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f10
Shutter Speed: 1/125
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
