Windermere Working Holiday Group

On Sunday 8th of September, a Working Holiday Group, combining estate work with photography, met up with the Windermere Rangers. The 4 days of work  consisted of  walling and footpath work at Common Wood. One day was set aside for photography with professional photographer, Dan Lane.

The perimeter wall for Common Wood was in a bad state of repair.

A large stretch needed to be taken down and rebuilt.

This was to prove quite a challenge as a lot of undergrowth had to be cut back on the "wooded" side of the wall before any work could commence.

The following images give an idea of the work involved.

A close up of the wall shows how bad its condition is.
Image courtesy of Dianne Lang, Working Holiday Leader
With Thanks to Dianne for the use of her excellent images in this post.

Clearing away the undergrowth and scrub to get at the wall was a big job in itself. Image courtesy of Dianne Lang.

With the section of wall taken down, now is the time to dig out and reposition the foundation stones. Image courtesy of Dianne Lang.

The repositioned foundation or footing stones, well dug in and ready for the  "infill', or  small  stones to  pack into the middle.  Filler or hearting are other names used for this. Insufficient filler will cause the wall to collapse in on itself, so it is important to keep the interior of the wall well filled!  

The "batter frames" with string lines attached determine the shape of the wall. Most drystone walls progressively narrow as they get higher.

A good perspective. The foundation stones are approx. 32" apart. The stones at the top of the wall approx: 20" apart. Image courtesy of Dianne Lang.

The top stones or cam stones being placed at an angle
 and butting up to the string line

The string line indicates the height of the top stones and hence the wall and allows for a neat finish

Nice looking job!

What a difference!

Digging out new drains. Image courtesy of Dianne Lang.

Nearly 5 tons of "M.O.T" stone was used to resurface sections of the path.
 Image courtesy of Dianne Lang.

Thank-you for the delicious egg and bacon butties.

Thanks to the Working Holiday Group for all their hard work and enthusiasm. Great Result!