Stone Walls Do Not A Prison Make...

...but it certainly feels that I am trapped by the need to at least get the front side wall and back gate done before winter sets in.  There has been progress on the walls and so an update is merited.  

The front wall is almost there.  I really want to get this done to full height finished with coping stone and pointing before I remove the horrible fence panels.  These are what everyone sees when walking by, and I don't want to draw attention to my wall by being seen to be working on it for so long.  I just want to unveil it and see how many people notice it.  My hope is that relatively few will actually notice it as the plan is for it to look as though it's been there for ages.

On the left is the view from the house side (obviously I can't take a picture from the street side as the fence panels are in the way).  There is only the coping stone to add at the left hand end.  Try counting the number of stones in this wall, and then think about how long it has taken me, given that on a good day I might select and lay just ten stones in four hours if I'm going well.  Then I'm shattered and can't do any more for a couple of days...

Also visible in the picture above are the hinges for the right hand gate, plus three bits of batten to make a frame.  This was done to prove that the pintles were in line, and to allow me to position the hinges on the uninstalled gate with reference to the other gate.  (NB The vertical battens are not parallel as the holes in the hinges are not identically spaced, which surprised me.) When the gate is fitted I shall only have to sort out its locking and latching and then I shall have some security for the first time.  It will also keep the various neighbourhood cats out; they seem to still regard this place as their hunting ground, but we like looking at the variety of birds!

The retaining wall (of the "upper terrace"!) has been extended and so now runs from the back wall alongside the house, past the extension and as far as the kitchen - that's about 12 yards.  I've been using the damaged Imperial bricks in this - why use good ones?  Here's a current photo showing the end of the wall and the steps up the earth bank (with the top step which has been added since the last post):

This photo clearly shows the difference in ground levels since I decided to make sure that rising ground would never again cause dampness here.  The house is just six feet from the bottom of the steps and the original ground level at the base of the house was just above the level of the bottom concrete step.  The temporary wooden board at the bottom of the steps is about 2cm below the final new ground level.

I cannot do the stone facing for this wall yet as that job will use up the remaining stone when everything else is done.  When other walls are done, I will choose enough decent bits to cover the brick and facing stone along the top of this one, and only then will I be able to do the face with small bits.  Obviously I don't want to break up larger stone yet as I need a good choice for the other jobs.