Newholm Wall

This wall had several gaps in it caused by a collision with a car and snow ploughs pushing it over when shoving snow off this road not far from Whitby.
Like many walls around the North Yorkshire Moors this one breaks most walling rules. All the stones are 'traced', which means they are put with their longest length along the wall, instead of being placed with their longest length into the centre of the wall This is contrary to 'normal' walling practice. The field side of this wall is completely uncoursed random rubble. Through stones were also used, cut at one one end to match this side and left uncut to match the random walling on the field side.


These were exceptionally well cut stones and amazingly after myself and the owner dug them out of the field where they'd laid for several years I pleased to discover none had been taken away for gardens! Equally there were none to spare!!

In the top photograph was one of my early attempts to repair a gap. I soon discovered that because each course of stone was precisely cut for each course placing them carelessly results in irregular and uneven stonework and having to use two small courses to match one larger one. By the time I'd got to the last gap I'd got the hang of this and my repair is unnoticeable from the remainder of the wall. Even though my early repairs weren't perfect, the owner was pleased and so was I especially as the wall around this field had several gaps that had been there for up to ten years, was close to one of my favourite pubs and only a mile or so from my home!.

Laying a large hedge

Almost any size hedge can be cut and laid. This particular one is alongside a disused railway track and was probably planted around 1860. This was the first time it had been laid, some of the trunks were nearly 1ft across and had grown to around 20ft in hight.




Stage 1 Cut away all the brash around the sides so you can start cutting everything that is growning out to the sides.














Stage 2. Cut all the large stems off as far up as you can reach.










Stage 3. Now go and look at what's left. Remove all the large stems provided you have enough other material to lay.













Stage 4. Now lay what is left as normal. Most of this is chainsaw and large axe work. Even a large hedge can be laid to the narrow style that is common in Yorkshire hedge laying.

And this is the regrowth around three years later.

This hedge was laid in periods when the overnight temperature (Sinnington Manor) was as low as -16c.

I have heard and read that large hedges don't regrow as well as younger hedges and that low temperatures can kill off the laid stems.  This doesn't appear to have happened here.

garden Feature

The builders merchant had some bricks going cheap and Trish wanted some interesting feature to replace the unloved front lawn. She came up with the rough design, I came up with the carrying it out.

It looks quite abstract now but once the plants are growing it will look totally different.