Happy Christams to our dear reader.

Another year of walling draws to a close, so thanks to all members past and present for your stone stacking skills.

We keep on keeping on at Markenfield, we kept quite at Menwith, We Quackered in Dacre and most importantly we didn't lose anyone in the mire at Ivin Waite so I'd say that qualifies as a successful year.

Happy Christmas and a Splendid New Year to you all.

Thanks to James and the AONB for out first Christmas do this year attended by a self selected trio of wallers; Barry, Graham and me. It was great to meet 'the Tuesday lot' and have a wander round Harewood.

Earlier in the month Barry and I managed to finish off the wall at Rossett with plenty of help from the kids. We were then presented to the Head of the School, who in turn presented us with a rather nice donation for Nidderdale AONB.

Wallers: 2

Markenfield

Having finished the Rossett wall I then hot footed it over to Markenfield for the afternoon, where I was able to bother Catriona, Graham, and Roderick who had been getting on quite nicely till I turned up.

Wallers 3 then 4.

Stone Cold Rossett

Barry and I made our penultimate visit to Rossett School making good progress with reduced student numbers, which made for a much better experience all round - We had one pupil each to deal with and we could really show them how to do different tasks.
It was pretty nippy and wet so we had a  quick lunch under the pergola with a leylandii serving as a brolly and continued unaided in the afternoon.

The Markenfield Three

A very cold day and windy with a touch of rain.  An intrepid three Graham, Catriona and  Roderick.

 We almost didn't start but eventually did a morning stint which involved a bit of reworking of last week as well as some new.

The temperature seemed to drop after lunch so we packed up and went home early!

Graham

Wallers: 3

Return to Markenfield

Today was Me, Roderick, Matthew, Mark (no Luke or John).  - Graham

We were pretty lucky with the weather, it was a bit breezy but mainly dry. Though poor Matthew who was doing some "demolition" spent  the entire period in a swirling dust cloud. - Rod.

Photos - Graham

Wallers: 4

The second seat and a Single Topper

Despite a weather warning form the Met Office Barry and I made the journey to Rossett and we rewarded with a pretty good day really. We had one or two willing helpers, who laid quite a few stones on the wall as well as using a hammer to shape those that we too big. The second part of the seat went on the wall and part of the wall is up to hight as evinced by the single lonely topper.

Here are student-less photos (we're not allowed to include them)

P.S.
Rod's mention of the derivation of Ivin Waite last week peaked my interest and I had a look at the Place names of the West Riding, but it had little further information. The earliest record of the name is the 1858 O.S. map. The only other Waite in the record is Waite House and as Rod suggested this is linked back to Thwaite - Old Norse for clearing or meadow - so Waite House is House in the clearing.
So Ivin's Clearing? Perhaps Ivin is the fella that cleared all the stone and made walls out of it.

Richard H.
No. wallers: 2

An end to Ivin Waite

Barry and Roderick kindly accompanied me to finish off at Ivin Waite on Saturday. The weather was fine and the ground was 'fairly ' firm underfoot. Rod and I slung some rocks into the gap between the old and new sections of wall, and decided to have a competition to see who could make the ugliest bit of walling. I think I'd declare it a draw but Rod may have other ideas on that. Whilst Rod and I filled in the gap Barry carried on with the toppers, but being a perfectionist he decided he wasn't happy with them and took them all off again, so after we'd finished the gap Roderick and I helped re-top the wall and we were away before lunch time.

Thanks to Barry for the very tasty break time flapjack which had a lovely molasses kick to it.

Roderick also mentioned trying to discover why Ivin Waite was named so, but there aren't many clues. The nearest is Old Norse for Thwaite - A pasture, meadow or clearing. No clue as to the Ivin part.

Prior to Starting - No prizes for spotting the sorcery*

The semi completed wall

Richard H.
No wallers: 3
* Two Catrionas - It's edited from 2 photos.

A seat

Just a half day for me and Barry. Another barrage of kids some enthusiastic some not so enthusiastic helped us to put up a fourth and fifth course in preparation for the first (and heaviest) of the two seating stones to go on.  I'd brought a few slates in order to help level the underling course and I'm glad to report that the seat is in place and doesn't rock! I think there might have been a pun in that but I'll leave it up to you.

 

Richard H.
Wallers:2

A few more courses.

Barry and I again had a myriad of kids helping us with the small wall at Rossett School. Most were familiar faces from the previous week but there were a few new people to help out. Some of our helpers were willing and enthusiastic, others a little quite and reserved but most gave it a good go with some pretty decent results.

Ivin Waite is still waiting from someone to finish it. Ivin though Graham was a willing volunteer last week. Sorry.

The wall by lunchtime

The wall by the end of the day

Rossett School

Barry and I arrived earlier than normal to start the new project at Rossett School. We we helped throughout the day by a variety of school kids, in hourly sessions, some of whom were delightful, others of whom were 'delightful'.
A few of the kids were set to moving the stone into the garden by their teachers, whilst Barry and I supervised digging a small foundation trench, and the laying of a foundation course.
We weren’t able to have any pictures with the kids in, but the pictures below do show some of the work they did, which given the limited time we had with each group is impressive.

Unfortunately no one was able to get to Ivin Waite, so we'll have to Ivin waite to finish that one off... I'll see myself out.

The site before we commenced work

SOme ot he stone moved by and graded by the kids, foundations dug.

The stone copping for seating moved into place behind the wall.

The start of foundations laid by the kids

Foundations finished off

Richard H

No. Wallers: 2

New Waller

Graham and I said hello to a new waller this Wednesday. Mark who hails from sunny Leeds joined us on a trip up, then down, to the soggy delights of Ivin Waite. We're hoping he decides to join us on a fortnightly basis, alternating with the AONB Tuesday volunteers.
Mark helped greatly in bringing the first section of Ivin Waite close to a finish.
We have a few toppers already in place and have a dozen or so more already sorted out to pop on when we next return. So it's just the gap to the old wall to finish and the toppers to top out. Then I think we'll call it a day for Ivin Waite this year. We might possibly return to do more work when the weather begins to get better again.

The muddy gully is becoming a bit more stream like

The wall at the start of the day (Actually at the end of last week - I forgot to take any photos till quite late on)

Graham and Mark casting a critical eye on the wall at lunch time

The wall at the end of the day - the aquatic qualities of the site having spread to the footpath