Before and after in Glen Lyon

Recently I had to rebuild this wall in the Glen. The problem was that one side of the wall is much lower than the other with a drain below this point under the road. The old pipe had caved in and as a result the wall had tipped towards the field. During the winter with heavy snow falls the snow plough had forced the pile against the weakened wall and there had been a collapse. I relaced the pipe and rebuilt the wall.

Our branch New menbers day will feature in the next entry on 3rd September.

Simple and Efficient

This skillfully constructed double triangle garden feature was built by Findlay Haddow in his Edinburgh garden. Just goes to show that interesting landscaping does not have to be on a grand scale.

The next entry on 30th August shows a recent job I did in Glen Lyon, my favourite place in the world.

Coping on a steep slope

Back in my favourite place Glen Lyon in Scotland. I came across this section of wall built more than 100 years ago at Innerwick. This shows brilliantly one solution to coping on a steep slope. The wall is built roughly in courses with the final layers below cope height done in steps. The copes are then carefully placed to create more or less a smooth gradient. Clever stuff by some Victorian waller.

Next post is a shot of landscaping on a small scale in a garden.

Steps sent by Jason Hoffman

Jason and fellow waller Richard Love produce very attractive garden features around Scotland. For more examples of their work go to http://www.stoneinspired.com/

The next post shows how the Victorians dealt with the problem of coping on a steep slope.

Pit in Glen Lyon

This pit shown to me by Tom Beels is situated close to an ancient track from Glen Lyon over to Rannoch. It is about 1/2 a metre in each side of a box with sloping interiors . The centre contained assorted bottles down to about 30cms.

I am advised by a local archaeologist that it is most likely to be a horse feeding box built in the middle ages. Date very difficult to establish.

The next entry is a set of steps by Scottish waller Jason Hoffman.

Raised Bed

Three generations of the family had great fun one afternoon last weekend building this flower bed . The reddish sandstone sat well, the work went smootly including wheelbarrow rides for the wee people. Food and refreshments were lovely .What a great afternoon.
This part of the garden had to be ready for our 6th grandson Andrew's 1st birthday and it was, from a weedy start as you can see.

Sean's Pathway

Sean Donnelly sent me these photos of a set of steps he had made recently with Parnell stones in a garden leading down to a Lake. Throwing sticks to the client's sons dog Brody is agood way to test the reliability of this type of feature!

Potographic Prize

This shot by Doug Jamieson ( Holstein Ontario )won the 2010 Dry Stone Walling Association of Canada prize for best photo of a dry stone wall .

The wall was built by Eric Landman who featured recently in this blog. Well done to both artists.

The next entry on the 2nd of August shows a dog then on the 6th there is a lion!

Stone balancing

This photo came to me via Andre Lemieux. For me this type of fine art although it may only be in existence for a brief time is fascinating. I attach comments from Andre.

"The "work" for want of a better word, was done in a cottage just outside Morrisburg Ontario on the banks of the St. Lawrence River .The stones stayed for quite some time- 24 hours or so. It wasn't until my sister and her boys came for a visit that the fun began- they would knock 'em down and I would set 'em up again."

To see more of Andre's work contact him on lemieux.andre@gmail.com

The next entry (29/07/10)is a prize winning photo of a wall built by Eric Landman.

More from Mike Ellis

Not dry stone walling but this creative work deserves a place for all those who love the medium to see.