Rebuilding the Burn Wall

The front of our property runs along the road, but between the garden and the road is a burn, and one side of the burn is made up of a dry stone retaining wall that is stopping our garden from being washed away. Ever since we moved in the wall has been deteriorating. It had already started to crumble and slowly became more and more overgrown with ferns and other invasive weeds between the stones. I tried to pull the weeds out but it unsettled more stones, so we cut everything back as much as we could, but it was too late. There was nothing to be done except get a man in to sort it out.

Kenny Reive was a top chap. I would guess in his 60s, an accredited dry stone waller, he spent ten days taking it down, digging out tree roots and overgrown foliage, and rebuilding it to perfection. He had to bring three trailers of new stone - goodness knows where the old stuff went to, as he reused most of it. Hard and heavy work, wearing waders in the burn, thanks to Kenny it now looks absolutely stunning and, as long as I keep it weed free, it should last many years to come. I'll let you imagine how much it cost me...