… was how some local residents referred to this dry stone wall during construction. Perhaps alluding to the time taken to finish it! It was a personal project and could therefore only be worked on at weekends and the odd day off.
The idea was to replace a rather wide and sickly privet hedge with something more in keeping with the vernacular, more substantial and which enabled a slight widening of the driveway. The resulting task was a labour of love which took one man just over ten months.
It’s amazing how much interest such a job generates from passers-by and many long chats by the side of the road took place. Even now, people can be heard commenting as they walk by. A fine endorsement.
The wall was constructed using dry stone walling techniques with some mortar every few rows to add strength. The wall is ‘battered’ meaning that it narrows towards the top. The top finish is undecided, possibly a flat, cut, piece of stone or shaped mortar.
Not content with this wall, Matthew took on a lockdown project of re-building the fallen down Church wall, incorporating some very old head stones. With a small team of socially distanced helpers this was completed in no time and has been much admired in the village.
