Dry Stone Walling In Dorset

There are probably few things we have done in life that will last for a couple of hundred years!    Here is an account of one!

The Dorset Dry Stone Walling Association arranges weekend courses for anyone who is interested in learning to how to build a wall. They are very well organised and their friendly staff and experienced tutor made us feel welcome from the start. The knowledge provided was interesting and helpful covering practice and theory as well as the inevitable health and saftey issues. The course lasts for two days and with 12 students on each course, we dismantled about 12 metres of delapitated wall that forms part of 'the Ridgeway' near Goulds Hill on the top of the Downs to the north of Weymouth.

 

Our walling site is just to the east of Goulds Hill Road and within view of Maiden Castle whose oval earthworks you can see at the top of the above photograph.

The wall behind the poster is a newly completed section of wall build under instruction by a previous group of students.  Our section was going to be the length, to right of centre.  You can see from the next photo that the next section of wall no longer provides a barrier to stock grazing in the field behind us. It requires complete repair; Call in the 'Dorset Dry Walling Association students!'

 

We look on and wondered where to begin!

Our first task following the introduction was to dismantle the remains of the old wall and place the stones to the left and right of the working area.  At this point we were sorting the rocks into their  size and character.  There were flat ones of various sizes, knobbley ones of different sizes, there were huge rocks that were reserved as foundation stones and others that would be kept for 'topping' the wall.  Eventually we got to ground level and prepared a smooth flat surface on which to begin the wall building.

A flat surface has been cleared and some of the largest rocks that were previously foundations are left in place.

Hot drink and biscuits are provided and this gives us a chance to share our experiences. Some students are looking for a new hobby and others, a career change from an office based job to an outdoor life! One of us has moved into a new house, built on a steep slope. The garden needs terracing and before engaging a garden landscape design company, she wants to get to know the basics of dry wall building so that she can ask the right questions before committing to an order.   Another guy is facinated by puzzels and he sees dry stone wall building as an upgrade from his rubix cube!  I want to repair some terrace walls in a garden on a Greek island.  We all have our own reasons for being here!

This section of wall represents the end that was completed by students on the last 'wall building course'. It will have to be completed by us and fused with the new wall that we are about to build.  The 'A' frame will have strings attached and running to another 'A' frame to provide a 'guideline' like a horizontal plumbline helping us to create a narrowing wedge shape to our wall as we build upwards. 

The guiding strings are now almost in position. They will be raised up the 'A frames' as the wall rises.  A few key foundation stones are already in place.

A tidy collection of well sorted stones will speed up the wall building process once it begins in earnest.  With practice your eye will pick out a suitable stone from a pile of dozens.  For the perfectionist there is only one stone destined for each position in the wall. The building process begins slowly but speeds up as you gain confidence and experience. Eventually it becomes almost an addiction to find the next stone and move on up! 

Stone in stock!

Getting the foundation stones 'right' is absolutely critical. The entire weight of the wall will be supported on these stones. Notice how the long axis of most of these stones is at right angles to the length of the wall. Althought you cannot see this, they are also slightly tilted into the centre of the wall so that they do not slip outwards.

The entire 12 metre length of foundations stones are almost complete.

Looks like someone is starting to build upwards!

To get to this point successfully you need to have applied all of the rules you were told about in that first theory lesson! We were 12 students working along approximately 12 metres so we each focused on one section.  This was where I got focused!  In reality, we worked in pairs on a 2 meter section, which meant we could have a discussion about a 'difficult gap to fill' or the 'suitablity of a stone we had just placed'!   Wall geeks we were! 

By this stage we were trying to apply all the rules.  Not sure about the stone on the near left! The long axis should be pointing into the wall!  We were also using a whole new wall building language; Our foundation stones were in place but we now needed to reserve our topstones, think about the frequency of throughstones, organise our building stones and make sense of all the hearting stones.  Over and above all these considerations some of the stones were really awkward and you do need to spot the opportunities to use them too. Every stone you pick up to position on the wall creates two challenges; one, that its fits snugley and does not break any rules and secondly that it is not creating a tricky surface upon which to build the next layer! 

This represents about seven hours work on a Saturday, by 12 students! We had dismantled the remains of the previous wall, had been taught how to build and had laid our first few stones!  By tomorrow afternoon, we were expected to complete the job!

The end of day one;   We admire our work, or is our practical work being critiqued and marked by our tutor?

We return to work on Sunday morning!

You can just about see the string guide lines on both sides of the wall.  They now need to be raised on the 'A' frames so that the wall continues to taper inwards.

What a beautiful spot to be working!  Looking south here with the English Channel on the horizon.

Craig and I shared a two meter section of wall building.  This enabled us to ensure that both sides of the wall were geting attended to!

Slowly but surely we gained height! Our tutor made regular inspections of each section to check that we were following all the correct procedures!

As Sunday morning slipped into Sunday afternoon the wall rose like a phoenix! The supply of available stones became limited and we were now hunting around for each 'right stone'.

This shot demonstrates the position of the guiding string that determines the position that we are building towards.

Craig concentrating on the far side.

Eventually we reach the desired height and are working towards completing a level surface.  We have now all been working for about 12 hours. (over 2 days)

Finishing touches!

Almost complete!

We just need to position the topstones or coping stones.

Job done!

Qualified Dry Stone Wallers!

Armed with the theory and some practical experience, and back in Greece,  I was presented with this slope of loose stones that had once been a wall retaining a terrace. It had now degraded to the point that it is a difficult and uneven pathway. Note the position of the olive tree roots at the top of the picture and the circular reddish rock on the left hand side. They have not moved. Now look for them on the photo below.

In the same location we now have three steps leading from the upper terrace to the lower one and a long 'stone bench' to sit on.  Much safer than previously although the slope at the back of the 'bench' will have to be dealt with on my next visit.....all thanks to the staff of the Dorset Dry Stone Walling Association! 

Our view from the new stone bench.

A tour of the Proposed Croxley Danes School Site

As plans progress to build a new school, the actual site remains one of the ‘hidden secrets’ of Croxley Green as I recently discovered. These ‘hidden secrets’ may be of public interest as the site is developed. 

In many ways the site is far from ideal, and the planners are going to have to think very carefully how they can create contemporary learning environments, while at the same time delivering structures that coexist with the present natural and suburban environment.  Such engineering solutions do not come cheap!

The site of appox. 25 acres is bounded by Rousebarn Lane to the north, the metropolitan railway to the south, the Grand Union Canal to the east and the lane, Lodge End to the west. For simplicity I will refer to each of 4 quadrants.

From the shops at the bottom of Baldwins Lane, and when the leaves have fallen from the hedgerow screen, we all enjoy the glimpse of one the most beautiful fields of Croxley Green. This SW quadrant of the site is a flat expanse of meadow backed by a row of tall majestic lime trees and is locally known as ‘the horses field’.  Given that this is the only part of the site that makes contact with a main road, Baldwins Lane, this will be the entry and exit for the new school. Imagine now a turning circle and parking for staff, visitors and coaches…… acres of tarmac similar to the current forecourt at St Clement Danes!  Sadly I see no alternative but maybe some generous planting will help.

We will have to wait and see if the plans include buildings in front of this row of mature lime trees. If so they will sadly become hidden from view. Whatever happens though, they really must stay!  They are the most stunning single feature of the whole site.  The sight of this avenue will bowl you over! They were once the grand approach to Cassiobridge House and surely must be preserved despite the site being delisted from Green Belt for educational use! They have been described by a local Environmental Officer as “the best example of a lime walk in Hertfordshire”.  This row of 14 pairs of stately limes runs across part of the site from north to south separating the SW and SE quadrants. I gather they are protected with tree protection orders but I trust they will be ‘sympathetically incorporated’.

A quick reference to a google map earth view, shows the familiar NW quadrant of the school site.  Familiar that is, to anyone who has ever been tobogganing or skiing in Croxley Green. This open field has provided a good slope down which to slide on a snowy winter weekend for generations!   It has yet to be revealed how this slope is intended to be used, but what is absolutely certain is that this is a very prominent landmark to many residents in Croxley Green.  This green lung is visible from houses, streets and gardens from Links Way to Durrants Drive and from Canterbury Way to Baldwins Lane.  Will the slope be terraced?  Will it support buildings?  Will ‘slope re-profiling’ remove this hillside altogether?  This is a substantial topographical challenge! Whatever is done this green downland forms the eastern horizon to this sector of Croxley Green and in turn ‘overlooks’ all these houses!  

 Anyone up here on the school site will be looking down on you!

The NE quadrant is occupied by the top of a hill or spur and is generally flat and hidden from view except for the houses at Gade Bank . Should major earthworks,  as has been mooted, flatten the hilltop, some specimen mature trees will need protection, and the neighbouring West Herts golf club might well be concerned about the impact on the local water table!

The SE quadrant, sandwiched between the canal and that row of special lime trees and the Metropolitan railway line embankment, is an area of low-lying former flood plain. It is a dark, dank and most uninspiring spot, shaded from the sun for much of the day.  I gather there’s a plan is to raise the level of the ground here to prevent flooding, but sadly it is likely to remain a zone of poor environmental quality.  I hope that this is not going to be the site for a classroom block or playground! Not somewhere I would want my children to spend many hours! Classroom block windows in this location would have a most depressing outlook. Maybe the planners can stick a large sports complex here where it will also be hidden from view!

At what is virtually the middle of the entire site is where Cassiobridge House once stood and before then the Medieval manor of Snells Hall. This was on slightly higher ground but not so high as to be exposed.  Maybe our predecessors knew something about siting buildings.  An assessment of the site’s archaeological value has yet to take place. 

I still wonder if this is a sensible or suitable site for a school. A tightly 'bounded' site creates restrictions that should ring alarm bells for the planners - name a secondary school which has not needed to expand? Lets hope the planners will rise to the many challenges and come up with some creative and inspirational solutions.   I hope the local community will in turn scrutinise the plans carefully and not accept them as a ‘faites accompli’ when the planning application is submitted.    For our children and future generations, we all want to make this space a joyous place to learn and not an eyesore to the local community. 

Victoria Square Athens, Sunday 28th February 2016

Whatever your views on the migrant crisis and asylum seekers Julia and I were profoundly disturbed by the sight of humanity finding refuge in this otherwise typical Athenian urban city square.  Our trip to Greece was by our usual globetrotting standards only a ‘local visit’ but last Sunday the world came to us in Athens!

Caught with limited options between Sunday sailing ferries and a fixed time BA flight we had to book a hotel at the last minute.  Athens it seemed was packed and our options were limited.  We ended up in a poor district a short distance from an Athens city center, informal migrant camp.

The entire square had been taken over by Middle Eastern and Asian foreigners who had neatly laid their bedrolls along the paths between the flowerbeds.  It was crowded but amazingly tidy given that stays here stretch from days into weeks and there are no proper facilities.  No toilets and no showers for 1000 people and yet the air was sweet and the floor was clear of any litter.  Clean grey blankets were laid out on flattened cardboard boxes to make sleeping on stone a little more comfortable. Neat piles of spare folded blankets lay to one side.  These personal spaces were of proud, dignified and organized individuals whose small ‘pillows’ actually represented their total possessions.  

The square was full but I saw no more than a dozen European faces.  The migrants were almost entirely Afghani but Pakistani and Iranians were also represented.  They were predominantly young men and boys but at no time did we feel uncomfortable or threatened. They were in fact most welcoming, wanting to talk, encouraging us to take pictures of them and even offering me a paper tissue as tears welled up in my eyes as the enormity and discomfort, physical and mental, that these young people must be experiencing, sunk in.

Young men who spoke excellent English had travelled through Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey to take a dingy across the sea to a Greek Island.   Along the way and especially at the numerous borders they could expect to be shot at even if they had a passport and personal ID. To get over borders they often had to cross under cover of dark and pay mafia types to guide them. Their positive attitudes and determination was for us quite humbling and emotionally traumatic.

Sitting on a low wall on one side of the square, were dozens of men and boys sitting and passively holding up pieces of A4 paper on which had been written simple statements in Arabic and English to communicate their cause; Open the borders, Afghanistan is also at war, Afghans are human, the Greek authorities must pay attention to Afghans and Afghans want to live without war. Behind them are the Mulberry trees from which two Pakistani men made their protest last week by attempting to hang themselves!

There were women and girls and young children on the square too, but most of them had congregated to one side where they were sitting on the ground cutting out cardboard shapes and painting them to entertain the children and make masks and crowns to wear.  It is carnival time in Athens and all the youngsters that we had seen earlier in the day in the tourist areas were all ‘dressed up’.  Migrant children were not going to be an exception!

We spoke at length to several young men. While this was going on I noticed a member of the public delivering a laundry bag sized collection of second hand clothing onto the square.  For a few minutes there was mayhem as men and women formed a scrum and grabbed whatever they could get hold of.  A little boy next to me managed to get a belt, someone else a blouse while a tug of war over a pair of trousers extended the few seconds that it took for this whole event to unfold.

The supply of food and drinks to date has not been a problem as many local Greeks are donating food on a regular basis.  Hundreds of plastic bottles of water were being distributed as we spoke. Local café’s and restaurants on the square have however been blighted as the new arrivals don't have the spare cash to enjoy the café culture and local Greeks are hardly going to sip their Ouzo in full view of the new scene.  

One young man, a trained engineer was born in Iran of an Iranian mother.  His father was Afghan so he was not of pure Persian stock. Under the existing regime he was never going to be issued with Iranian identity papers, a passport or allowed to buy property in Iran.  He compared the Iranian state to North Korea concluding that is was impossible for him to stay and live a normal life. If he was ever in trouble with the law he could not expect a fair trial.  He had therefore set off for Stuttgart to find a family member or friend in Germany.

 

 Another young Afghan from Hairatan in the north of his country had been fighting the Taliban in the Afghan army.  His commander had been killed and he had been shot in the ankle during an attack. He rolled down his sock to show us his wound. His mother and sister had dispatched him from Afghanistan in order that he should at least have the chance to make something of his life. (His father had already been killed.) He had crossed the great Amu Darya river into Uzbekistan, crossed another three borders and then taken to an inflatable dingy to cross from Turkey to a Greek island.  His fluent English and bright animated face conveyed the challenges of this epic journey.  We asked him his age.  “18” he replied.    

Tears well up in our eyes and he gave us a compassionate smile and said “don't cry, or you will make me cry”.   He proudly took his shiny new Afghan passport from his top pocket and held it in front of him for a photograph.  We talked to him about the reaction of some Europeans to the migrants arriving in Europe and how overwhelming the problem was.  He explained to us why he was staying in Athens. The Macedonian border is now closed to Afghans and only a few hundred Syrians are being allowed to pass through each day.  He did not want to enter another potential conflict so would wait here until the situation changed.  (The following day the BBC reported that the Macedonian army or Police force had deployed tear gas canisters on men, women and children when a group cut through the fence and rushed the border security forces on the Macedonian side.)  

We told him that from everything he had told us and from his demeanor and personality we were sure that he would eventually make it to his brother in Utrecht.  We wished him well.  As we left he told us of his plans. Once in Holland, he wants to join the Dutch army so that he can go back and fight the Taliban!

Do listen to the first item in BBC’s From our Own Correspondent first broadcast 3.3.16

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03lbz6k

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Microlighting: an aid to geography teaching

Microlighting: an aid to geography teaching 

Published in Teaching Geography October 1995 

Anthony Britton takes his own aerial photographs for use in lessons 

Airspace always seems to have been close to my teaching experience. In my first post in Farnborough, you had to accept that the new aircraft taking off from the air show nearby and circling past your window would cause disruption to the lesson and excitement to some pupils.  Later, as head of geography in Twickenham, my lessons had a commanding view of planes heading for Heathrow at two minute intervals. Now, ten years later, in a quieter location I am able to circle at 520metres (1,500 feet) above the grounds of my present school and make a contribution to airspace geography.

In June last year I embarked on a course of lessons in a microlight. With a 10 metre wingspan above and a two-seater trike below, it resembles a motorcycle side-car with a propeller mounted at the rear.  I was eager to learn everything I could from my instructor Phil in his Mainair Alpha 582. My enthusiasm led to Phil to sit me at the controls from the start! Following the preflight checks which seem daunting to start with, we taxied on to the grass runway at Hunsdon near Harlow in Essex. Within less than 100 metres and at only 57kph (38mph) we were airborne!  The sensation was thrilling and the views incredible. With an open cockpit and only a visor between you and the landscape, vision is virtually unrestricted.

As a geography teacher, the subject now really is three dimensional!  I have always enjoyed studying the detail on NASA and good aerial photographs, and now I can examine the real world from above at relatively slow speeds and low cost. Within the space of a few lessons we had flown over the new towns of Welwyn, Harlow and Basildon, and major arteries like the M25, M1 and M11, as well as new bypasses and old Roman roads whose routes are only defined by minor tracks and hedgerows.   I have peered down the chimneys of the new gas fuelled power station being constructed at Rye House and seen for myself the impact of a golf course construction boom in south Hertfordshire. The oil refineries at Canvey and the Isle of Sheppey ferry terminal adjacent  to acres of new cars on the dockside were only the first taste of how the geography of the Thames Estuary is changing.  Epping Forest really does look like a green lung worth preserving, whilst the state of industrial development in the Lea valley seen from the air not only provides the most up-to-date but answers questions that print cannot.  Climbing out from under a heat haze and up to the underbelly of clouds provides drama for future meteorology lessons!

Dr Challoner’s Grammar School, Amersham on the Hill, from 153m (500ft) above the ground, looking east. The school playing field and buildings are on the left.  Longfield Drive (middle right) is made up of detached houses and gardens. The Metropolitan line railway is on the right. Amersham on the Hill town centre is at the top of the picture. At 4pm on a March day the trees cast long shadows.  Photo Anthony Britton

Six months after going solo and passing the General Flying Test (GFT) the reality of this new teaching aid is beginning to flourish.  The department now possesses 35mm colour slides of aerial views of the school site and the surrounding area which complements our local geography resources.  The interest in aerial photography of the local from all age groups has been tremendous!  In several lessons pupils exclaimed “Sir, that’s my hose there”!  Pupils are most impressed with the details that can be seen from 520 metres. Aerial photographs are now being used to study housing density and patterns, transport networks, sites of industry and open spaces in conjunction with conventional mapwork skills.

Local colour aerial photographs also provide a stimulating resource for a “public enquiry” role play exercise. Our local example is the widening  of the M25.  Air views of the motorway with its intersections, adjacent housing and industrial areas, and Green Belt, combined with very varies traffic flows at different times of day, provide an informed illustration which has triggered lively debate and discussion. The impact of such developments on our landscape is best appreciated from above. Newspaper articles, maps and traffic statistics are provided for follow-up work. Your own air photography of a local by-pass, an out of town retail development or an industrial site could provide you with a similarly original teaching aid. Other useful views are as varied as your imagination and as broad as the National Curriculum!

GCSE examination boards use aerial photographs as part of mapwork of data response questions. The more familiar our pupils are with the interpretation of human and physical geographical views, the better they will understand and enjoy the subject.  

Notes.   

An unrestricted microlight licence requires 25 hours of private tuition of which at least 10 hours must be solo flying.  Ground school is required to get you through the five exams. A package such as this would cost around £1,500.  The cost of an aircraft and its running costs approximate to those of a family car.   

Besides using the aircraft as a teaching resource, family and friends also came flying.  My father, then in his 90's, was probably the oldest passenger who had ever taken off (and landed!) from Hunsdon airfield.  Pat Foster, a neighbour was also a keen photographer!   see  
 http://www.croxleygreenhistory.co.uk/croxley-from-above.html