It took me a while to appreciate the wonders of a wall. Possibly about the same time that it dawned on Oasis. My initial foray into walldom consisted of building a blockwork monstrosity at college, which I am hoping did not stand the test of time. At Cliffe I was introduced to the master craft of dry stone walling. When I say “introduced” I mean I watched while artisans plied their trades, asked pertinent questions and begged that whilst they constructed their works of art they didn’t stand on my plants.
Dry stone walling is a diverse and complex discipline. Styles and techniques differ from county to county, town to town, individual to individual. Like all works of art they are created and cast out into the world. It is here that they further develop their personalities, that they become a living thing, host to newt or snail or moss or lichen. Until they tumble, as all eventually do, often after many decades, and new blood comes along, with a nuance, a diversion from the traditional, and builds it up again. There is room in this world for both tradition and innovation. All good reasons to love a wall. I’m not sure this is what the Gallagher brothers had in mind.
Off The Edge Gardening 
There’s one miles long on Bodmin moor, hundreds of years old, many breaches so dividing nothing from nothing. My first thought is how many man-years it represents and why was it built. Old walls often possess a subtle but sublime beauty, that one certainly does.
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That sounds amazing, I’d love to see it one day. My hope is the skill set is not lost.
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Nothing like a Cornish hedge or a Yorkshire dry stone wall.
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I just knew you would agree!
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Walls are more European. We have more fences. However, the East Bay Walls are weirdly European in appearance. No one knows where they came from, . . . although we sort of suspect that they were built by the Chinese who were here to build the railroads, but then worked elsewhere as well.
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That is really interesting Tony, I’ve just Googled it. Personally, I think they were built by West Country Brits or perhaps the Irish, they love a good wall too. Here is a link for others to take a look https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Bay_Walls
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I believe that more than the theory that they were constructed by extraterrestrials. I believe that their history is lost only because they were not considered to be interesting at the time when they were constructed. They are not the only walls of this nature in California. It seems to me that they are more common in Calaveras County, where fieldstone needed to be cleared from rangeland.
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I do love a drystone wall.
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Are we weird?
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I prefer ‘special.’
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Me too 😁
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My 30 metres or so of dry-stone wall has lasted perfectly for the 35 years since I made it. It was something I enjoyed doing and it now fits in quietly in the garden.
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Fabulous!
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