Commemorative Seat

This delightful stopping place in the hills was built by members of the Central Scotland Branch of the DSWA as a tribute to the memory of Frank Moran who was a hard working and much valued waller for many years.

Here are photos from waller Alan Ash along with his own information.

Here are a few photos of a public works dry stone bridge that I've just completed 1/4 mile up a rugged trail going up to the top Spencers Butte high above the Willamette Valley here in Western Oregon. The seasonal creeks that flow through it can have a forceful flow in our wet season. Western Oregon as well as the Pacific Northwest (or the Northwet!! as it is called) has in areas, times of rainfall exceeding 90 inches a year!! The bridge is 65 foot long, requirements 4 foot wide at the top , 5 1/2 foot wide at the bottom, gravel on top for the trail specifications but no gravel dumped in the "hearting" of the wall.. Many, many stones in the 400 -600 lb range, Most all of the lower course is in that range and many of the capstones. The faces that you see on the stones are their smallest dimension, so it's easy to be mislead about their actual size. It was built to deal with the large amounts of water coming of f the hill as well as to carry powered wheelbarrows, weighing up to a ton fully loaded, to carry gravel for maintenance of the trail. The 65 ton of stone was hauled up the trail by these tracked powered wheelbarrows
Alan Ash /Ash Stone Masonry www.thestonemason.com

Funky Bench

These photos of a most unusual set of seats and tables was sent to me by Scott George in the USA. It is great for all of us to have the opportunity to see such interesting work. Please keep sending features which help to break the mould that constrains many of us.

Garden Features Swiss 5

Dani Mettler sent me these photos from the completed work in his garden near Berne. Comfortable seems to cover the feeling when I was with him and the family in his world. The cantilever build over the seat works well and the sets of steps are inviting to adults and children to explore the area.

Mountain Tracks Swiss 4

While I was not involved with repairing mountain tracks on this trip, I did marvel at some of the work being carried out to make very steep paths safer to walk on. One section which I visited on the way down to view a glacier was being repaired. The previously precipitous path was being changed into a winding way . This required the construction of retaining walls which supported the improved track. The path itself was pitched with large rocks set vertically into the surface. Although some loose stone was available most of the rocks needed were being delivered by helicopter. A tricky and very noisy business.

Another interesting feature were the Kaffer Stein (Beetle Stones) ,these are placed at the side of the paths when the track is running along a mountain side. The purpose of these rocks which are set every two or three metres is to mark the edge when the path is covered with snow.

Ancient Skittles Swiss3

During the work at Belalp several artifacts were discovered. This set of skittles was for me the most interesting. The enclosure was identified as having been in use for between 100 and 300 years. A set of round rocks were found in what appeared to be an older section where fires had been made in the past. The stones varied in size from 10 centimetres to 20 centimetres across ,they had been carefully rounded and according to two different sources were used in the past as a set of skittles which would be set up in a pile so that those playing the game could throw stones at it to earn points. According to a Turkish member of the team he remembered seeing children playing this game in his homeland.

Roofing slabs Swiss 2

One of the striking features of the area round Belalp is the traditional covers for the roofs. The shed shown here illustrates the use of an amazing collection of different shapes and sizes of local rocks. These are mainly schist which has been very carefully placed to keep out rain and the extreme driving snow in this area above 2000 metres. The other photo shows the modern equivalent where sheets of gneiss are used along with metal ties which were absent on the older roofs. The comment which craftsman Urs Lippert made was "This is regular irregularity". Took me a while to work that out but now I see exactly what he means.