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Dry Stone Walls

Posted on 14/01/2010 by admin

Having an old cottage in the county of Cornwall brings with it some challenges, in the main trying to make a home that was built two hundred and fifty years ago for dirt poor farm labourers who were supposed to be out in the fields all day, into a modern home.

But there are some things that it is more than worth keeping and the tradition of dry stone walling, building a wall with just stone and soil, is one of them. These cottages were built right up against banks in the hillside and digging out a pathway behind this cottage required a wall along the length of the bank. Building it up with just the stones one finds is rewarding. It is hard work and keeps one fit but also there is a rhythm to it, a gradual building up of something substantial and there is no interference with one’s thoughts. One is free to muse about the world, give speeches and compose poetry.

That said this cold weather brought out the weaknesses of not being trained when a section broke away and fell yesterday, however putting it back up is a matter of effort. a few days, a few hours a day and all is well and the flowers can grow on it this spring and summer.

In a way civilization is like a dry stone wall, always being built, malleable and when it falls it contains within itself the means for us to rebuild it.

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Children’s author, novelist, editor and poet.

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