‘I’ve had mine, Lucy. I got up with the lark this morning, as my leg is not giving me as much pain, and I knew it was going to be a busy day. Archie, have you eaten? You’ll need something in you, for lifting the stones in place as we go along today. Although now I’ve got myself a cow, we will start with repairing the lower pasture wall, and then I can turn her out into it when the frosty nights have ceased.’ Adam looked at the young lad.
‘Aye, I’ve had my breakfast. My mother wouldn’t let me out of the house until I’d something in my belly. She’s always fussing over me.’ Archie blushed.
‘That’s what mothers do, lad. Don’t be upset with her for it. She’s showing that she loves you. Now if we are all fed and watered, let’s make a start on the day. Lucy, you see to the house. When that milk cools, skim the cream off the top and put it to one side for making into butter; the rest you can do with as you please. Come on then, lad, let’s make a start – there’s a lot of work to be done here before next winter. I aim, with your help, to pipe water into the house from the stream that already feeds the trough here in the yard, so that will be a job and a half for us both.’
Adam picked up the stone hammer that he’d placed by his side and stepped outside, leaving Lucy to go about her duties in the house. He wanted to make a good start on securing the lower pasture’s boundaries, and he had no idea how fast young Archie could put up the limestone wall, which had been neglected for so many years. ‘I take it that your father learned you to wall?’ Adam talked to Archie as they made their way up the track behind the house that led to the lower pasture.
‘Aye. Although he worked in the quarry, we had a few acres of land and I used to help him with all the jobs, even though I was more of a nuisance than a help. He learned me all that I know.’ Archie sighed and went quiet.
‘Lucy told me he had died. You must miss him?’ Adam looked at the young lad.
‘I do – me and my mother. Times have been hard since he died. We had to sell what land we had, and folk took advantage of knowing that we would be grateful for any money we could raise. We hardly had enough money to bury him, until the Baxters came along with their so-called “good offer”. But they were only taking advantage of our bad luck, and we should have asked for more. I hate that Robert Baxter: he’s trouble, and everyone knows he is.’
‘Aye, well, we’ll try and keep away from him and his kin. I try not to fall out with anyone – life’s too short to hold grudges.’ Adam patted Archie on the back and stopped short of the dilapidated drystone wall that was in need of their attention. ‘Just look at it. There are a few yards in need of our attention, and this isn’t as bad as some of the walls up on the tops. We’ve got our work cut out, lad. I hope that your back’s strong and your arms have plenty of muscle.’
Both men looked at the bleached white stones of the wall, which had more gaps than a colander, and thought that the day was going to be a long one.
‘Sooner we start, the better. It is not going to go away and at least the fallen stones are still in place. It’s only a matter of putting them back and making the wall strong again.’ Archie rolled up his sleeves.
‘Ah, the optimism of youth. I remember those days, when nothing daunted me. Come on then, lad, let’s make a start. You have this stretch and I’ll begin higher up.’ Adam shook his head and left Archie looking at where to start his part of the wall.
Archie stood back and decided to take the wall back to its foundations, so that it would be strong, and to make it easier to fill the gap between each side of the wall with the stones that he had. He carefully handled each stone, finding just the right shape and position to make the wall straight and sturdy. And filling the middle of the wall up with smaller stones and rubble, which he called ‘fillers’, and occasionally placing a long, thick, strong piece of limestone the full width of the wall, called a ‘through’, to make all the stones fit and bind together. It was a job that not many people had been taught, and it was a skilled task to build a wall with no mortar, but only the stone and rocks that nature had provided. It was also a slow, back-breaking process, and even a good drystone waller could only be expected to build a yard and a half per day. The size of the gap that he was working on would take him to the end of the week – that was, if the weather held. However, once it was done, with the large top-stones in place, he would be proud of his achievement and so, he hoped, would Adam Brooksbank, because he preferred to be working on a farm rather than down in the flay-pits.
‘Are you alright, lad?’ Archie heard Adam shout, as he stood back and looked at the work he had done so far.
‘Aye, I’m fine. It’s a grand day and I’m doing something I enjoy. What more can I ask for?’ Archie nodded his head and reached for another stone. Not only that, he thought, but he had Lucy
