From the back of the barn, along one side of the ‘garden’ (the enclosed area to the back of the barn) runs a mortared stone built wall. This wall butted up to the rear wall of the barn and so needed to be removed or rebuilt to avoid damp problems. Additionally, an entrance to that side of the barn is a must to allow the shortest route between the yard where we park cars and the back door to the barn.

So, a broken chisel and a few pints of sweat later, the concrete cap was off the wall, the majority of the stones had been carted away, the lime and concrete mortar had been carted away to my woodland path and the monster was uncovered…

This part of the base of the wall was mainly formed by a large rock (pictured). After weighing it up from every angle it became obvious that it had to be moved - if not the gateway would be too narrow. So down came more of the wall and a mammoth struggle between me, my father and a seemingly immoveable object began.

In its entirety a long and painful story, suffice to say that eventually, an inch at a time and after some 3 hours, the rock was dislodged from its position in the wall and man-handled, via crowbars and wooden rails some 3 or 4 metres to its new position at the side of the yard.

Phew!

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