Castle in the Rocks

This Slovenian amazing castle in the rocks, was occupied for many years by a brigand who seemed to be unassailable. Although under siege for over a year he had 13 kilometers of passages to retreat into and also access to open country for fresh food unknown to the attackers. He was finally killed when one of his men betrayed him . He went each morning at the same time to his toilet in an overhang and he was caught in the act by well directed cannon fire!

The next entry explains the problem of drinking water in a limestone area. 20:06:11

North American Repair

This fine example of Deeside walling was substantially done by a group of wallers from Canada and the USA who were visiting the Royal estate at Balmoral. You can see what they were faced with when they arrived on site.
The entry on 16th June tells the story of an unusual Castle in Slovenia.

Walling in Slovenia

One feature of the dry walls in the Kras region was that there was almost no batter. For those of us brought up in the British tradition this is quite unusual but not unique. In Yorkshire I have seen  two metre high walls built by monks in the 15th century which had no batter. It would seem that the apparent requirment for the slope depends on the purpose of the wall. When there are no animals attempting to climb over there seems to be no need for batter.
The next post shows work done on the Balmoral estate by Canadian wallers.

The Smiling Hiska

I was involved in the almost total rebuild of this 100 year old shepherds hut. After the completion one of the builders Jelena inscribed our names on a rock close to the entrance. Sadly she left out her own despite making a major contribution to the work. All the huts had a name and  this one was called the Smiling Hiska.

Dry Stone Hut in Slovenia

The largest hut I visited while in Slovenia was in the garden of master builder Mitja. I liked this because of the flat roof and the domed interior. Mitja along with his father Adolf had constructed many fine walls with limestone. I joined a group of students walling on the property and we discovered how tricky the stone was to work with. Around 12 people could comfortably shelter in here.

A Fine Arch

This delightful arch was built recently by Yorkshire waller Tracey Blackwell. It was designed as a test piece and I wish her every success in the assessment of the piece. Have a look at this video of the removal of the support for the arch  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qheU8ZZTngE




11th May shows a Scottish blackhouse built in Canada.

Singling

This wall which is well over 150 years old is found on the old track from Crieff to Perth. The style is not typical of walls built since Victorian times in this part of Scotland. The local rock is large basaltic chunks which lend themselves to what we call Singling Dyke. Most stones are large enough to go right through the wall and tend to be built standing up rather than laid flat as is normal in a Double dyke.
See a monster on the 3rd of may!

Waller enjoying life

This photo of John Shaw-Rimmington shows him in his element. Dry stone walling is a wonderful job with each day giving the sense of having achieved something which makes the world a better place. It is also a profession which provides a challenge mentally and phsically. OK there are times when it is cold or wet but these are far outweighed by the warm lovely days often spent in outstanding places. For information about his activities in Canada go to http://www.dswac.ca/
The entry on 22nd April is a mysterious rock which was built into a wall.

Minature Wall

Recently I attended a dinner which was designed as a thank you to myself and Presedent Ian Dewar, who were both founder members of our local DSWA branch. We were  presented with minature walls. The one shown here was built by Joyce Anderson. What a brilliant thing to have. To give an idea of scale the wall is 25cm long (10 inches).
The post on 18th April is a testament to dry stone walling.

Time for Coffee

Now I love my job. But just occasionally when I get to work and look around I am thankful to be self employed. It is time for coffee and a bacon roll beside a warm fire. I shall make up for it in the summer.