Shandon

I just finished a retaining wall in Shandon. The original was built in stone and lime sometime in the late nineteenth century when alterations were made to the house. I know this because mouldings from a chimney stack the like of which are still on the house were among the rubble behind the wall. It was blackened inside so was on the house for a while. I suppose it must have been removed when a new wing was added.

Anyway, that's all very interesting but my real point is something else. This repair and others similar that I have done in the last few years make me realise that drystone doesn't just look nice. It can also be the cheapest and most sensible way to make a repair. Other quotes on this job advocated a wall behind of breeze block and mortar with a front of mortared stone. In other words, two walls with associated drainage to stop water pushing them over and much labour at much cost. Drystone can be more cost effective than a block wall with stone veneer to retain a bank. It is free draining so there is less labour and no future trouble on that count, there is only one wall required so there is less labour on that count, and there is no mortar so its a greener option to boot as enormous amounts of energy are used to make cement. What's more, if ever you need to move it to extend the house you won't need a JCB to pull it out, you can take it apart by hand and rebuild on the new line.

Built right it will retain any bank, even a very tall one,
such as this one of 7 feet that I built in Gartocharn. Its predecessor was a double wall of breeze block with a stone veneer in front that collapsed after only 20 years, swept away by a build up of water one wet autumn a few years ago. The one before that apparently fell down too. I don't know why that one fell, but some poor building along with the water build up did for the one I saw. It seems to me that freedraining drystone was always the best solution to retain this bank. I thought the structural engineer that I built this one for was pushing its ability to transfer weight too far when he built a deck and timber summer house on top but he was, and two years later still is, unconcerned.

Shandon

Before and after shots for a repair in Shandon. This retaining wall had collapsed a short time ago. Narrow stones placed poorly on sloping bedrock at the base and two or three budlia growing on top made it fall. I cut more bedrock out, with an axe of all things, and laid the base stones across the wall to give more stability. It is part of the boundary wall of the kitchen garden for one of the big old houses cut into the hillside at Shandon. Eight gardeners once tended the stuff destined for the table of the big house on the other side of the burn. There are few vegetables at the moment but the vegetation is so luxuriant that at least one entire glass house lay concealed and I only ever saw one corner of the garden. Although it is not large, I still have no idea of its extent.

Barrhead

Repairs and reshaping to the drive meant this drystone retaining wall in Barrhead had to be pushed back into the bank. We took the wall down and cut the bank back. This is the after shot with the wall rebuilt. You can see the original line where the monoblock is crooked. The slope is steep though it may not look too bad in this picture We cut steps into it and ran the stone courses in horizontally. This should have been easy enough, but the last few weeks have been very wet and the slope was a mud slide.

Bearsden

Here are some sort of before and after shots for a job I did in Bearsden recently. The gardens climb steeply here onto a fairly high ridge covered in mature trees. The school at one end of the ridge down in Drumchapel is called Drummore and preserves the Gaelic name for the feature. The wall was built high up, where the long garden met the woods and getting the stone up was exhausting. I am glad that part at least is over. Its not far from Garscadden wood nature reserve and I think it is surrounded in a way by houses so it's a wildlife haven on the edge of the city. Two weeks ago I heard and then glimpsed a raven above the trees. It was a pleasant surprise but it must have been a visitor because I haven't seen or heard it since.