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| Limestone walls near Foolow, Derbyshire |
The northern uplands of England contain countless miles of drystone walls. They were painstakingly built from locally found stone. Some of them are hundreds of years old - possibly thousands of years old in some locations.
No cement or mortar was used in their construction. Skilled wall builders simply arranged the stones so that they would support one another like pieces in a jigsaw. They endure everything that the weather can throw at them but should a section of wall tumble down, all that has to be done is to repair it by putting the fallen stones back in the gap.
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| Millstone grit wall near Malcoff |
I have often walked in moorland areas where the walls became redundant long ago and have not been maintained but there are still many places where the walls remain in very good condition.
Plenty of folk take the walls for granted - they are just there like the hills and the sky - nothing special. But I love the walls. To me they are works of Art. I think of the wall builders - their patience and steadiness in rain or shine - slowly creating extra yards of walling over days, weeks and years. And the walls can be beautiful - weathered and sometimes enhanced by plant life. There's a sense in which each yard of drystone wall tells a different story.
There is beauty and wonder to be found in many human constructions - old castles and churches or country cottages or grand houses but beauty and wonder are also present in the walls that evolved from our northern landscape. Please think of them when you next think of England.
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| Drystone walls at Peak Forest |
As I was thinking about this post, I discovered a most relevant song by Keith Scowcroft and Derek Gifford. It is performed here by a folk duo called Fyrish and it's called "The Walling Song". It looks at drystone walls from the point of view of wall builders. I wanted to paste the lyrics into this blogpost for your elucidation but I am afraid I couldn't find a written version on line:-
Definitely works of art. I've always admire the skill it took to lay the stones so perfectly imperfect and create a thing of practical beauty.
ReplyDeleteThe hours that were spent building our walls... mind boggling!
DeleteMy idea of Yorkshire was created pretty much entirely by "All Creatures Great and Small" and I remember the walls very well from that show. The work of artisans and always impressive
ReplyDeleteLike Australia, Yorkshire is big. We have so many different landscapes here. That TV show concerned the Thirsk area of North Yorkshire.
DeleteP.S. I realise that the comparison with Australia is quite ridiculous!
Maybe, but I get your point
DeleteThere is something about these walls that has always made me wish I had become a stonemason. The artistry and architecture combined to produce something lovely and practical.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean Linda. It's that slow, steady patience that I most admire.
DeleteI think it is human nature to build stone walls. These are amazing. We think of ourselves as so modern and advanced when in truth, our ancestors were the true artists and engineers in many ways. Have you ever seen pictures of the rock walls in Peru?
ReplyDeleteYes I have. The pinpoint accuracy of the joints in those walls is flabbergasting.
DeleteI really love that millstone grit wall. They're all works of art, as you say. When I think of England and the English landscape I always envision stone walls and gently rolling hills. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWell I am glad that you are one American who does not first think of Big Ben or Downton Abbey!
DeleteThe photo of the millstone grit wall with monochrome hills behind is outstanding. I don't usually picture so many walls in England, so I appreciate your pictures and write up. Art, indeed.
ReplyDeleteTourists take pictures of Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Stonehenge and English castles but they tend to overlook the walls.
DeleteI have always loved the drystone walls. That is one of the first things I think of when I think of your lovely country. How I wish those walls could talk.
ReplyDeleteThe are rather different from Trump's dream wall.
DeleteI'm here to thank you for the laugh I got from your comment on Steve Reed's blog. Your humor is as dry as a drystone wall and I love it.
ReplyDeleteSee what I did there? Dry? Stone?
In my opinion, the hard part isn't building the wall, it's fetching the stones from hither and yon. What a back breaking job that is.
You make a good point about sourcing the stones Vivian. That was indeed a large part of the challenge. I am pleased that you "connect" with my humour that sometimes evades others. Thanks for calling by again.
DeleteLOL -- I'm glad the image of me carrying a telephone table on my head gave someone else a good laugh! (I laughed too!)
DeleteThe walls are works of art...proof of concentrated efforts. There would be few around today...humans, that is...who could create such masterpieces.
ReplyDeleteSeveral craftsmen still make walls in Derbyshire and of course to save money farmers will often have a go themselves.
DeleteIf you've got rocks , make your fence of rocks. If you've got trees make rail fences. No trees or rocks like us...barbed wire.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how North Americans will often use the term "fence" when referring to our drystone walls.
DeleteYorkshire is drystone wall country! I love every yard of them and have done so from my first visit on.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how some parts of Yorkshire have hedges rather than walls. That is how it was around Beverley and Hull.
DeleteIn my eyes one of the most beautiful manmade things in the Lake District and Wales (I spent much of my childhood in both places) was the dry stone walls. When I came to Lewis I discovered very few stone walls especially on the part of Lewis where I live. The grant system involved in fencing the very long narrow strips of land forming the crofts led to the term 'crofting is the farming of fences'. I could happily call all the photos on this post beautiful works of art.
ReplyDeleteWe are like-minded when it comes to drystone walls and I bet we thought the same when The Berlin Wall came down.
DeleteYes, the walls really are beautiful. It's amazing how neat and orderly and tight the stones can be without any mortar at all. (This reminds me of Robert Frost's "Mending Wall" poem -- "Something there is that doesn't love a wall.")
ReplyDeleteI must seek that out Steve. Thanks for the connection.
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