It was good to meet up again with Ben (and his Border Collie “Ruff” who confirmed my thoughts about Paddy, that being a Waller’s mate is an ideal occupation for a Border Collie) and Jonathan from the taster weekend and there were also five others in attendance – most aiming to do the test in July also and one taster.
On our first day (Sunday) we went over some of the basics again (mainly for the benefit of those that were new to walling) and then set about stripping and re-building a section of wall that we had practiced on in April. Working alongside Ben and Jonathan, we had a good craic and had the wall up in quick time and it looked pretty good.
On Monday, we went up the hill and rebuilt a section up there. By a nice coincidence, Jonathan and I were at a point in the wall where Donald decided that we’d build a “Sqeeze Stile” – basically a tapered gap in the wall allowing people to pas through but narrow enough to keep livestock in. This was a good opportunity as not only did we get to build a feature such as this (a higher level feature) but also to see how a “Cheek end” (the end of a wall) is constructed. This was a pretty hard day as the stones required for a cheek end are pretty hefty, but after a reasonable time, the wall and stile were built.Fortunately, we were also not far from the Iron age hill fort nearby and the Kettley Stone and Kettley Crag Rock Art, which I mentioned back in April. We took a short trek across the beautiful Northumbrian countryside to see these sites and I have to say, I was really pleased to have done this. The view from the hill fort was stunning, with Hawk Aircraft (probably form RAF Leeming), Tornadoes (probably form Leuchars), and Tucanos (probably from Linton-on-Ouse) flying past at almost eye level. Then it was downhill into a small valley at the bottom of which is
the Kettley stone – a Neolithic font carved into the bedrock. The area is predominantly sandstone and the soil is very sand indicating that the area was once sea bed and the features of the land indicate a watery past. It’s thought that the font would have been used in ancient water worship ceremonies, although others have speculated that it was used in early Christian worship. Another short trek back uphill and we came across Kettley Crag – an overhanging rock with awesome Neolithic carvings in the base stone. This stone was covered by turf for millennia and largely remains well preserved due to the overhang and also the fact that unless you know where it is, 
it’s actually pretty hard to find. There are many of these “cup and ring” stones across Northumberland and theories abound about what they mean from ancient maps to simple doodles. All I know is that all of this is a call from an ancient past when nature was worshipped and unspoiled. This alone makes such monuments simply awesome. There are a few good resources around if this sort of stuff interests you: Firstly there’s the Beckensall Archive, then there’s the Megalithic Portal and lastly The Modern Antiquarian.After this, it was back to the site and up with the coping stones, then down into Chatton Village for a couple of well-earned pints…lovely.
Tuesday morning…I knew I was in trouble, as by 0800 it was already a warm day. The task for the day was to dig out the foundations of the section of wall we’ll be tested on in July, re-build and to ensure that the stone in the wall was good quality. This was slow work in the heat and finding decent foundation stones is harder than you might imagine. Just after lunch I had to call it a day as I had to drive back to Kent that same afternoon and evening as it was my Grandad’s Funeral on Wednesday morning.
My Grandad was 94 when he died and it was ultimately simple old age that caught up with him. He was a kind and gentle man and everything a classic Grandfather should be. I credit much of my enthusiasm for gardening to him and the days I spent helping him in his garden, eating fresh vegetables at Sunday lunch. Nothing bought in any shop has ever come close to that taste. He lived a pretty simple life – much of it outdoors, in the Kent countryside – he never wanted for much, just enjoyed working outside, eating well and enjoying a few pints of Guinesss before lunch on a Sunday. On reflection, there’s a lot we could all learn from the way he lived his life and his influence, stories and even his looks live on though his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. In aspiring to a walling lifestyle, I hope to recapture something of the simpler life that he has shown us all.
After another drive back North on Wednesday afternoon, I arrived back at Chatton on Thursday morning. Apparently Wednesday had been another hard, hot day, with the stone in the wall difficult to work with so progress was not what I thought it might be so after some finishing of of rebuilding, we moved on to making a circular seat just behind the wall. Donald explained the finer points of
circular construction and with all hands on deck, the wall went up pretty quickly and looked pretty good by the end of the day. Work remained to be done on constructing the actual seat and also building the seat into the existing wall with a squeeze stile for access at the front, but it was a project I was pleased to have been involved in.Friday brought in the rain and another day of stripping down wall and rebuilding, but this time under mock test conditions. We were given random stints of about 1.5m of wall to strip and rebuild and I was off to a bad start when I discovered that the foundation stones I had were pretty poor so after much swearing I finally got the all important foundations settled. It was ultimately to set the tone of the day for me with seemingly poor stones to work with all day. Granted, you have to work with the stone that’s available, but if you have nice square stone to hand the work becomes so much easier. There was some respite after the delivery of some better stone from further up the hill and I eventually finished but I was far from happy with what I’d done. Once the batter frames were down, it did look OK and Donald said that it was of a good enough standard to pass, which was a relief, but the major faults were not getting big enough stones in at the bottom of the wall and using sloping stones lower down which created misery further up. It’s just the way it goes sometime – a day or so before it all went so smoothly…just a bad day at the office and Donald’s feedback was delivered in a very constructive fashion so I now know exactly the areas I need to look out for in my work.
Saturday brought more rain and heavy mist and with little to do on the site, we simply tidied the area up (inadvertently disturbing a bee’s nest in the process!). I think by this point, everyone was pretty tired and muscles were sore, so we only worked until about 1400, said our goodbyes and were off until our test in a couple of weeks’ time.
The week was great – great to get in so much practice, to see some new features and also to get to grips with good foundations. Working for a week was tough but sustainable and the weather was also interesting. I’ve come back with a really healthy outdoors “glow”, but by Tuesday, the heat really did have an impact on the ability to work at a reasonable pace. One of the best investments I made prior to the week aside from my own tools and kneepads (such a good idea!) was a Camelbak – just makes keeping hydrated so much easier than stopping to get a drink. On the flipside, when the rain came, the only difficulty I had was gripping some of the larger rocks when wet, but as for comfort, no problem whatsoever – god bless GoreTex. It is useful to have something warm and dry to change into for the drive home though.
So now it’s only a week until the level 1 test, which I’m excited and nervous about in equal measure. It will be great to get that under my belt. Onwards and upwards!
Dedicated to the memory of Alan Norris - 1914-2009
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