Dry Stone Walling Association South East Scotland Branch
  • Home
  • Programme
  • Training courses
  • Professional services
  • Blog
  • News
  • Get in touch
  • Links

Wooplaw revisited (again)

20/7/2015

0 Comments

 
Yesterday half a dozen of us (myself, Richard, Stephen, Mike, Chris and Alan) returned to Wooplaw to continue work on the wall and bridge we've been building there (see posts passim). Stephen and Mike had cut two logs the previous weekend and dragged them down to provide supports for parapets for the bridge. At that time both the cheek ends at the far end of the bridge were in place. But by yesterday they'd been pushed over.
Picture
Not a disaster, especially seeing as the one on the left needed taken down anyway, but it's not at all pleasant to see your hard work trashed by (one assumes) mindless idiots. Fortunately, this sort of thing is rare - this is the only time I've ever seen it at Wooplaw.

The plan for the bridge parapets was to embed the logs one either side, and then build small walls on top of them. So a trench was cut on each side of the bridge and lined with stone:
Picture
and the logs were embedded in them.
Picture
Meanwhile, Alan continued with the wall:
Picture
and I had a go at restoring the right-hand cheek-end.
Picture
The bridge build proved a bigger job than had been anticipated (partly because we widened the bridge a bit as well while we were at it) so we didn't get the parapets quite finished, but we're heading back there in a month or so and we should get them done then. And in fact it turns out that our vandals were doing us a favour (if only I'd realised before I rebuilt it*), as the widening means that the right hand cheek end will also need moved (or perhaps even dispensed with altogether, if we just join the parapet to the main wall). 

* Still, it was good practice - and, as the above photo shows, I need all the practice at cheek ends I can get. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
And despite the damp look of the photos, the rain stayed off (apart from a very few drops) - always a bonus (and especially when you're working in a ditch).
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    This blog, and the rest of the site, are produced by Donald McInnes, treasurer of the SES DSWA (I'm the baldy one, sometimes in a saltire hat).

    Archives

    May 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    August 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    November 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013

    Categories

    All
    Practical Dyking Days

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.