WHAT I DO

I will lay your Hedge, Build or repair your Dry stone walling or plant new hedges.

Hedgelaying, Planting, Drystone Walling, Garden features, House stonework, hedgelaying, teaching, illustrated talks, Training in Hedgelaying, Stonework, Drystone Walling

I live and work in the North York Moors area



I'm a qualified hedgelayer and have laid hedges in Ireland, Holland and in the UK. I'm also a drystone waller and have built houses (and walls), garden features, gate entrances in Ireland, Australia and in England.

I've been told I'm a bit of walling and hedgelaying nerd. But I don't mind it because it's normal. Doesn't everyone stop and take pictures of these when they are on holiday?

Some of the site contains my work along with pictures of hedges, walls and walling features from places I've visited. It should be pretty obvious which is my work.

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

A medieval deer park wall




 The deer park wall at Fylingthorpe in North Yorkshire, which is  about 5 miles SE of Whitby.  Much of the original wall still exists and some of it is likely to be in much the same condition as it is now and largely unchanged since KIng Henry VIII  dissolved the Abbey at Whitby immediately after 1536.  The deer park was a part of the Abbey property.  The wall is 3ft in thickness at the base and at the top around 2ft.  A distinguishing feature of this wall are the regularly spaced stones in the form of a cross.  These stones go right through the wall.  They must have been difficult to place in the days before machinery.  Some repairs have been carried out over the years.

Another feature of this wall is the top. For much of the top there is no evidence of how it was finished off.  However, where the wall descends into the beck the character of the wall changes and the tops/copes are large flat slabs of stone.

Another wall close by has unusual large upright stones, all of which are the full width of the wall, and this wall is also likely to have been built at the same time.

This is the same wall, but in another field:- http://wallsandhedges.blogspot.com/2010/10/park-wall-historic-wall.html
Above and below - A medieval wall.


I repaired/rebuilt some of the lower part of this wall in the winter of 2020/2021


 

Monday, November 30, 2020

Near Whitby Abbey


In the walls near Whitby abbey there's plenty of evidence of old, worked abbey stone.  After the dissolution of the Abbey in the 1500,s much stone was sold, given away, recycled or simply pinched.  Its  a nice surprise when you find a lump of stone nicely worked on one or more sides.


 

Above = after
Below - Before
 

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Hedgelaying training for the York Wildlife Trust

Hobb House Farm Rosedale. February 2018

I was asked to run this two day event by Mary-Jane Alexander the NYMNP's Youth Engagement Officer. 

Given that most of them had little experience of using hand saws, axes, billhooks and the like, I was pleasantly surprised that they managed to achieve such good results and under quite cold, wintery conditions.



Mary-Jane and a trainee
Getting stuck in!

Not bad by any means.  Yorkshire style!

Not perfect cuts, but certainly quite good considering their experience, and age.