2019 - 2020 - A year not to be forgotten!

What a year 2020 has been...A year of working alone, not meeting with colleagues, no shows, no teaching and a number of jobs lost. Still, I consider myself blessed to have a job where I can be outside, not needing to worry about commuting or having to wear a face mask!

In 2019 I finished 250m of a wall in Kirk Ireton which has become known as Emma's wall to friends and neighbours who walked past on a daily basis to observe progress. It was almost a 4 season wall!

Finished!

2019 A group of wallers from the Derbyshire Branch of the DSWA spent 5 days on Orkney building a wall for a community. It was a memorable experience for us all and left a beautiful curved seat.

2019 Two operations on my hands slowed me down towards the end of the year!

Extending and rebuilding a wall encompassing a wheel as a feature

One of my most favourite walls to date in The Brund, a 60m retaining wall, all dry stone. A beautiful setting which I worked on during the fabulous weather of the first lockdown 2020.

Returned to a job to finally put the tops on completing a lovely garden wall project

Hello 2019!

Where has the time gone?
All of a sudden its January 2019 I'm layered up in thermals, my once hot drink is turning to ice as it sits in a cup as I build ... and those hot days of summer where I was getting to work for 5.30am to avoid the heat seem so far away!
It has been a very busy few months of non stop walling moving from limestone to sandstone and back again.
A couple of insurance jobs...a couple of 'quick-my-wall-has-fallen-down' type jobs some garden landscaping work and now mid winter a very long stretch of field walling to do.
So looking back since August here's a little of what I have been up to...

44m uphill, sandstone wall which had to curve around trees...quote a challenge as the trees were in the wall!

A quick day gapping at Snitterton with lovely limestone

Gorgeous early morning winter sun on part of my 255m near Kirk Ireton

uh-oh...winter has arrived!

Ancient walls

Been rebuilding 100m of ancient walls around the lead mining areas in Middleton by Wirksworth. Fascinating as we think some of these walls are pre enclosure because they are vertical. This could be late 1600s or early 1700s. It would appear that some of these have never been built looking at the condition of the stone in the middle of the wall. It's fascinating to wonder who may have built these, what their life was like, and so on.

Rebuilt limestone field walls

RHS Flower Show at Chatsworth

I am currently spending the week here at the RHS show at Chatsworth working with friends and colleagues from Landmark Walling

It has been a fantastic few days so far with a couple more days to go. Carl and Dan and the team have already built the beautiful 'Emergence' (see below) featuring local limestone and sandstone. It is an inspirational piece of walling...

I have now joined them and we are working on a much smaller wall, simply to demonstrate the beautiful craft of dry stone walling and demonstrate some of the features that a wall can have.

If Walls Could Talk

Recently I have been lucky enough to be involved with a film about dry stone walls. A local filmmaker (Roland Keates - www.transfigurephotography.co.uk )has made a beautiful and fascinating film due to be launched this spring.

or click on the link below

https://youtu.be/M39EsdI-KAk

Snow stops play

First winter where I have missed days due to snow....I used to love snow...

Trees and walls do not get on!

There are very good reasons not to plant trees near walls. 

The following photos show a wall with holly trees and others planted way to close. The roots grow into the wall and as the wind blows and trees move...well, you know what will happen.

Can't cut these out so they stay under the wall

Where possible I can bridge roots to allow for growth