Where does the time go?

Irrefutable evidence indicates that no-one has blogged since 17th October but don't let the pregnant pause fool you ... the group has been hard at work.

After our soggy sojourn on Greenhow, we decamped to Woodland Trust territory at Hackfall Woods.  It's a charming spot and our walling site has only two drawbacks - the midges got there first and have no intention of going quietly and the wall lies down near the River Ure (or Yore as I prefer to think of it) which is fine in a morning but quite hard work on the way back out after a day's walling.  Other than that, it's a nice home for us for at least the first part of winter.

The stone is variable and in short supply so we've already reduced the height of the wall to 40" below the copes which is still adequate.  After four weeks we have completed a rebuild on around 15 metres and are up to copes on a further five or so.  Quite rapid progress for us!

This week the Richards found themselves in company with Em, Graham, Roger and myself, Phillip and Catriona having decided to help move the scout centre wall forward at Bramhope with Pete and Anita.  Thanks to Richard for the photos below:

Richard happened to mention that he'd dropped a 50p piece
Suddenly no-one's interested in the wall any more

Whose idea was this anyway?

Memories of last week (10th October) have faded but we can all still recall that creepy sucking noise that the Greenhow mud makes as you try to extricate one or more of your boots from its fond embrace.  Catriona tells me her boots have only just dried out today (17th) which is unsurprising.

But, despite the conditions, we soldiered on, Tony earning the prize for most time spent under water (see left hand side of wall in pic above).  To be fair, Greenhow didn't give us its best shot and we were spared the soaking that had sent us scuttling for cover the previous week.  So we were half way up the final stint by the end of the day.

The Met Office, so often wrong this summer, got it pretty much bang on for 17th October.  We all peered bleerily into a dark and soggy dawn and immediately concluded that home was where we all should be, at least until 10:00 am.  By 10:00, the clouds hard begun to part, allowing watery sunshine to persuade Robert (finally got a day off), Graham, Roger, Paul, Phillip that maybe Greenhow wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. 

And so it turned out.  Yes, we were ankle deep in the black stuff, but it stayed dry and not-too-windy and we were able to finish off the final stint.  Hopefully Graham will publish his snaps for you all to admire from the comfort of your warm armchairs.

So that's it for Greenhow.  Kev sends his thanks for all who contributed - he seemed well impressed with our efforts both in terms of quantity and quality.  Next week it's off to Hackfall Woods where with luck we can wile away a reasonably sheltered winter.

There's wet, and then there's ..... a sinking feeling

OK, bad idea but it had to be worth a try.  Sunny periods and showers, said the Met Office.  Yeah, right.

It rained as we were driving over; it rained as we were unloading the kit; it rained as we slithered into our waterproofs; and it carried on raining as we trudged to the wall.  Then it stopped long enough for us to view the puddles along the finished wall and the blackness of the mud where we stripped out on our last visit.

Nothing daunted, Phillip, Roger, Tony, Richard and I set about demolishing the next stretch of wall.  Squelch, slither, slosh in the primeval slime as we attempted to set new foundations - tricky when the base is under water.  It had by now rained again and the downpour (shower?) intensified as we stopped for coffee.  Now you can rain on me, blow at me and bury me in snow but don't ... don't ever ... dilute my morning cuppa coffee.

A quick show of soggy hands and there was unanimity.  Sod it!  Let's go home.  So we did!

Welcome, by the way to the guys and gals of the NCV.  Happy to share a blogspot with you and to keep an eye on what you're all up to.  I'll be writing up the more slanderous version of what Tony and Ros got up to in Bryan's Wood as soon as I have consulted my lawyers!

Normal Service Resumed at Greenhow

OK, so blogs are a little sparse at the moment and just to enhance their scarcity value I'm going to roll three into one this week.

This week (26th September) has been declared a washout after two days of horrendous rain.  Last week was boggy enough despite Phillip's gallant attempts to lay down brushwood walkways and I suspect that today there would be standing water where we'd be standing and slithering.  We don't cancel often so I hope evryone is comfortable with the decision.

Last week saw an excellent turnout (11 brave souls at my count) in OK-ish weather conditions -chilly but dry and good progress was made with the second and third stints.  We've decided to tackle one more stretch before bidding farewell to Greenhow for the winter.

On 12th September the group offered one of its twice-yearly taster days on behalf of the AONB.  Numbers have been a bit disappointing of late but, given the kind of weather we were 'blessed' with, it was frankly amazing that two people were brave/daft enough to join us, as were 8 members who rallied to the call for help with the taster day.  Thanks everyone and particular thanks to David and Catherine for tasting some pretty wet conditions at Greenhow.  We hope you enjoyed yourselves and that you'll join us again sometime.

For those of you keen to see more photographic evidence of the group at work, Richard the Elder has loaded 101 (!) snapshots on to DropBox (eh?) at https://www.dropbox.com/home/Drystone#!/home/Drystone. 

Next week, we can all blog about what we did with our day off. Second thought; maybe not!

Freak weather strikes Greenhow!

The pictures (thanks to Richard and Tony) tell the story of last week's walling session, the most amazing feature of which was the weather ... bright sunshine ... on Greenhow.

In preparation for the AONB taster day, six of the team stripped out the next stretch of wall, laid foundations and completed the first course along the whole stint.  This will give our 'tasters' a level playing field to get them started - the muddy, heavy bit having been taken care of in advance.  Who says we're not nice people?



Greetings from the beautiful south!

Well I'm no longer there, obviously, but whilst mooching round the New Forest on my summer holiday I came across this (see image below). A dry wood wall? A wooden dry stone wall? A dry stone wood wall? I'll leave you to decide what to call it, first one I've seen, wouldn't mind having a crack at one either!

Em

And the sun shines on the righteous ...

Wasn't sure whether to start with the sun shining on the righteous or something about fortune favouring the brave.  Well, at least it didn't rain on our new site up in Greenhow ... much.  To tell the truth, it absolutely bucketed down to begin with but, by the time we'd squelched around the site to size up the possibilities and had a cup of coffee, the rain miraculously ceased and we remained dry for the rest of the day ... in Greenhow!

Our new site is centred on a tiny miner's cottage called The Loanings.  Our host, Kev, is a waller himself, so no pressure there then.  Roger, Graham, Catriona and I completed a longish stint that Kev himself had started some time ago and between us we stripped out the next section.  This gave us a good opportunity to get used to the mixture of limestone and sandstone both of which are available on site.  Copes are, as usual, in short supply, but Kev gave us a good demonstration of ... how shall I put it? ... improvisation.

Commiserations to Phillip who never quite made it to site despite having driven all the way from Leeds.  Maybe we should get some of those little arrows on sticks printed with NAWG just like real contractors do.

I've told Kev we'll do 4-6 weeks up there, mainly because I suspect the weather will become increasingly inhospitable as the year progresses.  For now though, we can chalk one up to Greenhow.  See you next week?

Moving swiftly on ...

Barely had we got used to riding the swings and merry-go-round at Darley than it was time to move on again.  Four weeks was all it took to rebuild the rickety bits of the boundary wall and receive all manner of sage walling advice from passing dog-walkers.  'A good waller only picks up a stone once ....' etc. etc.

Thanks to Roger, Phillip, Graham, Richard and Catriona from all at the Darley Playing Fields Association who also made a generous donation at the end of the project.

This week we sought temporary refuge with Pete and Anita at the Bramhope Scout HQ.  Five of us helped move their walling project on a yard or two before we move on again next week to a new project at Greenhow.  Such busy lives!

Goodbye Sparrow Hawk; Hello Darley

Looking ever so slightly content with themselves, the merry band pose in front of a completed, bee-proof semi-circle of immaculate dry stone wall.  And it's goodbye Sparrow Hawk Farm.  I must admit I won't miss the slog up the hill but I will miss the cakes and pies.

And now on to Darley - a small rebuild project alongside a children's playground hosted by the local playing fields association.  The pictures tell the story - copes cemented on, wall settles, stones fall out etc. etc.  Two weeks there so far and the main stretch of wall is complete and coped.  Next week (8th August) we'll be tackling a stint outside the playground and then it's off to pastures new again.

And the next job is ...

This little beauty is about 4ft tall so it's all the kind of stone we're used to.  Sadly, it's in Cornwall so by the time we've met at 9:30, travelled down and had coffee it'll be time to come home again!  Shame!

Twice more up the hill

We've been up and down the hill to Sparrow Hawk Farm twice since I last blogged and haven't drowned on either occasion although waterproofs did tend to be on and off like a Tom Cruise marriage.

Last week (4th July) we allowed ourselves a little diversion and made repairs to the culvert that runs alongside the wall.  Richard and Roger couldn't resist jumping into the hole for a rummage around. 

The rest of us had the good sense to stay on comparatively dry land.  Thereafter we made further progress on the wall and made a start on the copes. 

until by the end of July 11th we had finished the wally bit and were more than two thirds of the way round with copes thanks to a sterling effort from Paul and Richard the Younger. 

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Richard does his best to cope!

One more week of coping and tidying should see us home and .... probably still damp.

Acknowledgements to Richard the Elder for the photos

PS for David's records we had seven wallers on each of the two days

This is June, right?

Let's just say the weather was mixed, shall we?  So anyone apart from me, Richard the Younger, Phillip and Graham D was probably sensible in staying away. 

We all enjoyed a brief, Malteser-laden visit from Em II and Boogie - he said he hoped to be with us again soon and promised to bring Em with him.

Both hives are now populated again but our buzzy friends were pretty quiet (apparently they don't like rain, so I have something in common with bees after all) as, thankfully, were the Pateley midges, altho' Graham said that he 'sensed' them.

Continuing moderate progress on the wall.  We're at the tricky uphill stage now but our strategy seems to be working.

Please let summer come soon!

Two for the price of one (weeks, that is)

Sorry I forgot to blog last week and apologies to those who showed up on 13th June because I've forgotten who did and who didn't ... apart from Robert, that is, who joined us for the first time in many a long month.  Welcome back and I hope you're able to get more time off before we run out of walls.

The bees, although only recently decanted into their new homes, were very well behaved and only mildly curious about our comings and goings.  Not so the midges which were a complete pain in the butt and anything else they could get their itchy little feet/teeth/fangs into.  Aaarggh!

Good progress on the wall though, as evidenced by Tony's separately loaded photos.

Yesterday (20th June) is clearer to my fading grey matter.  A beautiful, warm, sunny day (yes, we did have a summer one day this year!) and Tony, Emma, Roger, Phillip, Paul, and the Richards for company.  Only one hive still occupied (altho' Kit whizzed off to collect a new swarm in the afternoon) and the bees plagued Richard the Y but left the rest of us alone.

The lower end of the wall is now up to full height and the remainder is coming on well altho' the uphill middle section is still presenting challenges.

Photos below courtesy of Richard the E.

Wed 13th June 2012  -  The bees have arrived

                                                               

Two's company but there will be more.

Lunch break

Close of play

I wandered lonely as a..

Clouds!  We'd almost forgotten what they look like after so many days of glorious sunshine but there they were offering some relief from the blazing sun. 

So making the most of the modest weather we carried on piling on the courses and digging out whatever large stone we could find to help us raise the height of the wall.

We were joined by Kit who did some heavy haulage work and Kev (a proper waller!) who had itchy fingers and added a few stones to the wall - every little helps! Soon we might even be joined by the bees, although we have been assured they can be locked up on Wednesdays so that we can wall without being stung.

The adventurous bunch this week were; Phillip, Paul, Richard (senior), Catriona & Roger

See you next week

Em

NAWG goes global

From time to time we are joined by people who are just passing through or visiting Nidderdale who have heard about us and the work we do and this week was just such an occasion.  We were glad to welcome Mick who has come from Australia just to enjoy some walling with us, oh and he might be seeing other parts of the UK at the same time but really that pales in comparison to walling with us!

It was a glorious day in Nidderdale, the sun beating down and the best views from Sparrowhawk Farm across the dale.  However, not always the best weather for walling as it's hard work, but we slogged on in the sun and managed to throw up several courses around the wall.

We worked on filling in the gap between the low end and high end of the wall and generally raising the height of the rest of the wall.

As we sweltered on through we all had a fantastic day out in the sunshine, the sunburned few were; Chris, Richard Senior, Richard Junior, Paul, Phillip and of course Mick.

See you next week, Em

not sure what happened here, for some reason it won't turn round :-/