Here are one or two examples of my work from 1975 to the present.

Domestic Work. 

Driveway to a garden in Hawick.

Whinstone Retaining Wall reconstructed in 1975 after heavy rainfall caused collapse of original wall dating from end of 19th century. Concrete coping was cast and contoured to ground level to customer specification to allow easy maintenance of grass above the wall. Despite further heavy rainfall (as you can see from the growth of moss at the foot of the wall) the wall has not moved at all. An advantage of a dry stone wall like this is that it is naturally free draining. (photo taken in 2003)

Some work in Central Scotland. 

Brightons, Falkirk 2003. Ugly blockwork walls that are falling.....

...replaced with dry stone retaining walls to complement the house.

 

 

Near Drymen, Stirlingshire

  

 

I just like the way the autumn sun brings out the colour of this fine grained sandstone.

 

Near Aberfoyle, 2005 

 

Before this dyke was repaired, Blue liked to stand on the loose stones at the gate post to get a good view down the track. Well, a good guard dog deserves a decent flat platform on which to perform his duties. I really enjoyed working with the big lumps of stone in this dyke.

Facing to new house, Midlothian, April 2004

I was asked to give an 'old' look to part of a new house. The rest of the house is finished in roughcast. All stone recycled from other buildings. Other features added such as a 'doocot' at roof level. The roof is now finished with pantiles, traditional for the area.

   

 

Tillicoultry, 2006-07 

 

The low walls here (like many others in Scotland) had the railings removed in World war II to go for scrap iron to make armaments. A fence on top did not prevent litter being thrown into the garden and the fence itself was repeatedly damaged and constantly required expensive replacement.

 

The solution: raise the wall up in a random rubble style to match neighbouring walls, with the existing fine cope stones replaced on top.

                

        Before                                                                     Using gantry and hoist to lift copes into place
 

 

      

        After
 

 

 

 

Inversnaid, by Loch Lomond, 2006

 

     

This photo shows the start of a project to screen off an unsightly packaged sewage plant in a very beautiful part of Scotland near the top of Loch Lomond.  The concrete path to the left is part of the West Highland Way long distance footpath and is used by thousands of visitors to the area each year. The green filtration unit and the  control housings are to be clad in Red Cedar to blend in with the beauty of the surrounding woodland. The dry stone dyke will provide some extra visual amenity to the site and hide the ground level chambers and access covers. By the way, Tam, if you are looking at this, I'll bring the milk and sugar next time.

 

Main contractor to Scottish Water Solutions is Naston Ltd, Civil Engineering contractor is George Leslie Ltd.

 

Balfron, Glasgow 2005. 

 

I was asked to build a bridge in dry stone over a stream connecting 2 ponds. The larger low level pond can be seen in the background. The request was for a simple low structure that would not hide the stunning view of the pond and hills from the entrance driveway, from where this picture was taken. With no parapet, turfed on top and positioned at a natural low point in the bank, the owners were delighted with the result. Lighting has since been added for effect in the evening.

 

Blanefield, Glasgow 2005.

 

An architect has his practice in this beautiful location at the foot of the Strathblane Hills. To maximise space for a new drive and parking area, the design called for a dry stone retaining wall up to 1.5m high. Sedimentary Stone of Devonian age was chosen for colour, durability and shape. The strength of the wall is crucial as it holds back a clay bank that can become very wet. To aid drainage, Type 1 stone and perforated pipe at the rear of the wall was connected to a surface drain. A pillar kindly donated by the estate owner makes a prominent marker at the far end of the wall.  

Photo by kind permission of T. Robinson, Architect, Strathblane.

Near Stirling 2004.

 

 

This impressive tower house was lovingly restored by its architect owner from a ruinous state over a number of years. Garden space was limited and the dyke in the picture separates the access road from a small garden with natural slate paving, a pond and planted areas. The stone was chosen to be a good match for that in the castle walls. The dyke is fitted with hidden cable and lights are fixed into the inner face of the dyke.

 

Strathaven, South Lanarkshire 2004.

 

The earliest part of this extended cottage is very old and the owners love to recreate an aged look in their garden as well.  The use of local stone, recycled from an old estate walled garden provides an impressive edge to the paved area to the front of the house. Steps made from upturned coping stones form low, wide steps to the lawn. Visitors have been known to ask if the wall is as old as the house!

 

I finished this job at 3.30 pm on Christmas eve. I knew there were bulbs planted but did not want to dig them up when building.The picture was taken the following spring and now I can see where the bulbs are as well as those that should have been lifted from in front of the steps! I have also returned in 2005 to build a cairn at the end of the access road enclosing a stone engraved with the name of the house.

 

Strathaven, South Lanarkshire 2005

Before 

And later, 

A perfect place to sit of a summer evening, sip a glass or two, take in the ambience and try to fend off a million midges. This is summer in Scotland after all.

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Special Projects

In 2008 I have introduced some new stone features as a result of demand from some customers. These include:

Wildlife friendly features;

Bird conservation organisations in the UK are concerned about the continued decline of our garden birds. This small stone spiral feature is intended to provide a haven for invertebrates, thus providing a food source for small birds such as robins, tits and wrens.

 

Adding any pile of stones will encourage biodiversity in your garden. This is a pile of stones with a little extra style and would suit an environmentally friendly garden or a corner of a medium sized garden. Peat free compost pockets allow some planting, further enhancing biodiversity with appropriate planting of species to attract insects.

The spiral shape was inspired by the traditional herb spiral; a low soil mound with a few stones to mark out different planting areas. A first version of this design was exhibited at Gardening Scotland in 2004, where it was part of a Feng Shui show garden and generated much interest.

Barbecue areas;

This feature is a large (1.8m dia.) firepit designed with a higher back into the prevailing wind and an entrance for cleaning out ash. The large size can accommodate a brazier and a barbecue or a large amount of branches and cuttings to fill the whole firepit.

Arch.

The wall here had been built some years ago and an arch was always intended to be built over the gate. For whatever reason the arch was not built at the time and the contractor did not come back. There was enough stone left over from the original wall to complete the job in a similar style. 

 

Mortared Work

 

Braes of Doune 2006  

 

    Before.                                           What a mess.                                       Can you see the join?

These photos show work to demolish, move and rebuild 70m of an historic wall to allow access for very large vehicles to deliver components of a 72Mw wind farm to a construction site some 8 miles out in the hills near Doune. The stone is fairly fragile and the wall had to be taken down carefully by hand and moved about 4 metres into the field where it was rebuilt in exactly the same style. To match the original construction, no cement was used in the mortar. Natural Hydraulic Lime was mixed with sand from the nearby Cambusmore Quarry to make a Lime Mortar as near as possible to that used in the original construction.

 

Main contractor Mcalpine Capital Projects; RJT Excavations Ltd, Jedburgh, are constructing the site access roads.

 

Callander Wood, Falkirk, 2005 

 

Forest Enterprise own the historic Callendar Wood in Falkirk. Part of their management plan is to encourage local residents and visitors to the town to increase their use of the woods. The boundary wall of the former estate of the Forbes family is in a poor state of disrepair and encloses most of the south side of the wood, adjacent to the large residential area of Hallglen. According to local lore, cars have been said to have been deliberately crashed into the wall and vandalism to the wall has been a problem for many years.

 

Standing Stone was asked by Forest Enterprise to improve several access points that have 'developed' in the wall over several decades. The agreed solution was to lower the wall at these points, on both sides of the pathway, so that users have better visibility and a sense of security when approaching the woods.

 

The lower part of the wall, visible on the right of the photograph dates from the 1780's and suitable lime mortars and stone recycled from the wall were used for the repair. The original copestones were difficult to recover from where they had fallen from the wall but were worth the effort in the end. Future plans include the removal of common brick used to repair the wall in the 1970's and replacement with matching stone and general repairs carried out in keeping with the historic significance of this wall to the people of Falkirk.

 

Further Information

Construction of a dry stone dyke

The term 'Dry stone dyke' is used because traditionally, no mortar is used in their construction.

In the case of a new dyke, a line is marked out on the ground and a foundation is dug, the depth of which can vary according to ground conditions. For existing dykes, the stones are sorted as the dyke is taken down and placed either side of the course of the dyke, within easy reach but leaving a gap to work in either side of the foundation. 

A frame to provide the batter, or taper, of the dyke is fixed at the end of the site and lines tied to another frame or pegs in the existing dyke, to give the shape of the dyke.

Foundation stones are then laid. These are the larger stones which will carry the weight of the dyke. Courses of the dyke are then built up with the gap in the middle of the dyke filled with small stones. About one third of the way up the dyke 'throughbands' are placed across the dyke. These are stones that run through and strengthen the dyke.

Depending on the style of the dyke, there may be a layer at the top of the dyke of flat stones called covers. These help to keep the rain out of the dyke. In Central Scotland, with its Gritstone and Sandstone dykes, copes are often laid straight onto the last course of the dyke. Finally, as mentioned, the top course of stones are coping stones or copes. 

The above is not intended as an exhaustive guide to building dykes but as an illustration of some of the techniques used, for those who may wish to further develop their interest in the use of dry stone.

Advantages of Dry Stone Dykes

1. Because of the way they are built, dry stone dykes are very strong and very attractive to look at. They both serve as a functional part of our countryside and as a decorative feature of the landscape. 
2. They prevent stock from getting in or out of a field and also provide shelter from the weather for both animals and plants, in a garden situation.
3. Dry stone dykes do not require the maintenance of hedges or fences.
4. Stone dykes provide shelter for wild life; mice, lizards, weasels, stoats, and rabbits use them. Lichen and mosses grow on them and they provide a habitat for insects. In turn, these provide food for birds and small animals.
5. Last but certainly not least, they simply look very good in many landscape situations and can complement new housing as well as traditional barn or courtyard developments in rural areas.

Dry Stone Dyke Contracts

Standing Stone will be pleased to provide free estimates for work in any of the sectors described, from a new wall in the smallest garden space to gapping or reconstruction of field boundaries which may be hundreds of metres in length.

Insurance work welcome

Standing Stone is fully insured, with Public Liability cover to £5million

Stone can be supplied to your requirements

Contacts

Ivor Scott

Standing Stone

10 Rowan Crescent

Falkirk

FK1 4SJ

Telephone 01324 879641

Mobile    07864 321122