| Gordon G Hall |
| Writer and Neo-Philhellene
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The Silverdale Wanders All walks start and finish at Silverdale Green by the parish notice board. |
| Walk Five
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A short walk through fields. Following a brief mention of stone walls in yesterday's, Walk 4, article I though we might have a gentle wander loooking at walls in a bit more detail. |
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We set off in the direction of Carnforth. Just beyond the second turning left , which we want to take, there is a good example on our right of a moss-covered wall. Even in a wet climate such as exists in North West England the ammount of moss on a wall can give some indication of its age. i am told that wall dating by lichens is a good deal more accurate. Turn and retrace your steps, take the first right, then right again to follow the footpath past the houses. |
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As you come through the final kissing gate onto the open field have a look at the wall on your left. This wall is a very curious hybrid. See how modern techniques try to ape the old . The top of this wall has been built by a builder (not a waller. The stones are all similar size. The top of the wall (coping) is cemented in place and there is a barbed wire attachment This is anathema to a proper traditional waller (I thought my Greek readers would like that word!). It simply does not work aesthetically or historically. |
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Walk on down the field keeping to the wall on your right. After about 200m you will see a wall that has sunk into a delightful state of disrepair, but displays a delightful mixture of mosses and lichens. May of such walls, as this one, are combined with hedges in an attemptto make them stock-proof. I am not sure if that is totally succesful here. |
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Also on this side of the field there is an interesting bit of wall history Working from the left the wall is quite old but in a satisfactory condition. Then comes a section of the wall that has been competely rebuilt, relatively recently. The long U shape is typical of wall rebuilding. The rest of the wall I think shows two stages of development. The section close to the rebuild looks in very bad consition. It was built by a novice. I wonder if the rebuilt section was built by the same person Then the very last bit, to the right, looks rather better and was probably built at a different time by someone else. |
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Carry on down the field and just before the boundary wall there is what certainly was a gate stoop. This is a real puzzle to me. Why is this gate stoop set about half a metre out from the wall? It does not relate to any other wall. You can see the lower pintle is still there - and a hole for the upper one. What was it used for? Clearly sheep now enjoy it as a rubbing post! |
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On our way home now. Just keep turning left to, eventually, bring yourself back to your starting point by way of Clatence House. On the way do not miss this piece of natural art. Waht a glorious palette nature has, to add colour to our walls. |
| And that concludes WALK FIVE
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Inspiration from this glorious world.
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