Chilly, misty morning and big rocks.
It was a cold and foggy morning when we arrived at Auchinstarry last week. The mist was rising off the canal, and we were all very glad of our hot teas and coffees to give us a heat before we got down to work. We’d already been to collect some ‘big rocks’ from another site, which the poor old van had to haul on the trailer all the way out to Kilsyth.
The job was finishing a pond we began a few weeks ago. Then, the pond had been dug out, a heavy, messy job as the ground is an extremely heavy, sticky clay. A liner had been laid with rocks and clay to hold it down, and left to fill with water. The big rocks were to place around the edge of the pond, as an edging and to hold the liner in place. First, we had to don our safety gear – the site owners insist on hi-vis jackets and steel toecaps on this site, so that’s why we look like a community service team in these photos!
The first job was to get the rocks up a steep bank to the pond, so a human chain was formed and much heaving ensued. Then, someone had to get in the pond to lay the stones – our three young placement volunteers were quite keen to get the waders on – little did they realise how cold the water was! Ha ha. They worked really hard despite the cold muddy conditions, packing the wet clay in by hand as a sort of mortar to hold the stones in place.
James and Stuart laying rocks around the pond edge.
This turned out to be quite a fine task, as we all discussed which stone should go where for the best fit and artistic effect. Apparently, there is a traditional technique that uses wet, compacted clay (which is waterproof) to line canals, called ‘puddling’ so we were actually rediscovering old skills! When the edging was finished, we had a pile of rocks left, and just enough time to construct a ‘rockery’ as a hidey-hole for wee critturs, just next to the amphibian ramp at one end of the pond. Meanwhile, the rest of the group had sensibly been keeping well away from the cold, muddy stuff and had been installing brick edging along the planting beds.
The job was finished off the following day, with planting of wetland and water plants around and in the pond. Now, we’re just waiting for someone to move in….