Wednesday 27 January 2016

Decidedly Soggy Markenfield

It was very wet at Markenfield today. A team of four wallers gently marinated in the fine North Yorkshire sun shine rain. Roderick was so taken by the fine weather that he has requested that we get some AONB branded sun glasses for the whole team.
Richard the Older had promised to bring a new volunteer, Oliver of Jenny Ruth fame. Unfortunately, not only did he not bring Oliver but he also forgot his water proofs, and beat a hasty retreat just as the really fine weather reached us at 11 o'clock.
Roderick managed a further hour, whilst myself and Barry carried on until about quarter past one, decided that we weren't really drying out very quickly and slithered our way back to the car park. The drive out via the newly created Hell Wath river was interesting.






A small section of wall that remains in reasonable repair which requires a bit of gaping - start and end of the day. The right hand section of wall  may need to come down further, as can be seen by the 5 course running joint at the rear of the wall





The front of the wall at the start of the day, just before break, and as we left





Richard working on the rear of the wall, and it's state just before we left.

A view down the wall as we were just about to depart.

Richard H.
Grid ref: SE 29558 67806
Map : Here

Wednesday 20 January 2016

No new old wallers to report.

There were no additional returning wallers this week, so we miss out on the New Years hat trick, although we did enjoy the company of Elaine for a second week.

After Richard The Younger had returned from his morning skive the pros and cons of a possible new walling project at Grantley were briefly aired. No conclusions were reached, but watch this space!

The team of Catriona, Roderick, Graham, Elaine, Barry, Paul, Richard P and Richard H, made some fine progress with both the dismantling and re-mantling  of a section of wall. Richard H and Barry also managed to do a bit of clearance in preparation for the next stint of wall.

Proof of what we done:-




 The Gang Having their lunch.



 
 Clearing a new section of wall - the a reasonable section of savable wall to the left




 The afternoon stint



 
 More from the afternoon stint.





 The last three photos of the day.

Richard H.
Grid ref: SE 29558 67806
Map : Here

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Another Suprise Guest!!

That's right! Two walling weeks into the new year and each week has been enhanced by the presence of wallers past. This week, as well as a second visit from Chris, we also enjoyed the company of Elaine, a founder member of the group who hasn't been walling with us in about 4 years.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for the year we also had a site visit from Iain and James of the AONB asking us to spend all their money for them. We're collating the order sheets and hope to take delivery of the fleet of 4x4s sometime next month.

The extra hands meant we made good progress despite the pause in the proceedings occasioned by the AONB meeting. Richards Elder and Younger were separated by Chris at the back of the current stretch, whilst Elaine and Graham tackled the front of the wall. Barry and Paul did sterling work taking down the next stretch ready for rebuilding.

Some picturegraphs of the occasion.




 The Wall front and back just prior to the meeting- at break time



 













Back of the Wall before lunch featuring Richard the Elder and Chris
















 
Elaine and Graham Working of the front of the wall just before lunch




Barry and Paul clearing the next section of wall



 












The Front of the wall at the end of session, just needing top stones .




The rear of the wall at the end of the session


Richard H.
Grid ref: SE 29558 67806
Map : Here

Wednesday 6 January 2016

A Suprise Guest

A New Year has started and the walling team actually managed to get out on the first Wednesday of 2016. A vast improvement over last year when snow prevented us from our task until nearly February. Hot on the heels of this shock came another. As the wallers peered into the mist, who should emerge but our great and august leader Mr Chris Grundy. A most welcome surprise.

Roderick helped Chris put some stones at the front of the wall, whilst a couple of Dicks and one Graham concentrated on the rear of the wall. This left Paul with the best job on site; taking down the next section of wall.

Some photos to show that we did do some walling:-












The front just before break.








The rear just before break.

















The front at lunch time. - Please notice Paul eating his lunch


















The rear at lunch time.











 
 The front just prior to trudging back through the mud.




The rear just prior to trudging back through the mud.



Richard H.
Grid ref: SE 29558 67806
Map : Here