Friday 26 August 2011

A slice of Lyme 9 - A new stone wall and an interesting notice!

Eventually, it stopped raining. This meant that enough people poured out of the cafe to allow us to squeeze into it and enjoy a well deserved cup of coffee.

(At this point, Harry was feeling justifiably happy with himself for being the only one amongst us with the sense to don his waterproof over trousers at the first spot of rain. The rest of us sat and steamed gently in self-inflicted sogginess!)


Fed and watered, we set off again, heading out of Lyme Park by the Four Winds gate; walking alongside the newly rebuilt dry stone wall.

Dry stone walls are built from stone alone. There is no mortar to hold them together. The skill is in the positioning of the stones and the overall construction of the wall. It is a traditional craft which was close to dying out, but which has seen a renewed level of interest in recent years.

A well constructed dry stone wall can stand for as long as 200 years.


You can enlarge the photo to read what the board says.
(I'd be interested to know if anyone else tried to wipe the raindrops off the photo to better read the notice! DOH!!!)



This lane is just below Four Winds, outside the boundary of Lyme Park. As you can see, I have painted out the notice. Any guesses as to what it might have said?

Answer tomorrow :)

6 comments:

  1. Interesting Cheshire stone walls - they are slightly different from those in the Dales - I suspect it is the stone which is different.

    As to what the notice says - Beware of the Bull???

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  2. What a wonderful wall, love the top.
    The sign say... "beware of turn in the road" or possible "strong wind ahead" of course !

    cheers, parsnip

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  3. "Beware loose stones?" Just kidding. I love those walls. I'm a big fan of puzzles and see that as one giant three-dimensional puzzle. Again, you've created this wanderlust in me. I think my psyche is very ready for a journey of silent contemplation and far, far away from this homeschool, cranky teenager world.
    Tina @ Life is Good

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  4. "Anyone caught trespassing will be shot on sight." (does this ring a bell?)

    Love the art of dry stonework.

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  5. Many years ago I had a very old gentlement that was a stone mason take me under his tutelage and teach me to lay this type of wall.

    Your post really gave me some wonderful memories.

    Thank you.

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