TryGOLD- Free

The writing's on the wall
Country Life UK|February 22, 2023
Early on a bright and frosty February morning, John Lewis-Stempel sets about trying to repair a dry-stone wall in the hope of keeping his horse, and other livestock, away from his prized roses
- John Lewis-Stempel
The writing's on the wall

NINE o’clock sharp on a cold morning and I am absorbed in geometry. Angles and planes, perpendiculars and horizontals, sines and cosines.

A year ago my horse, in his keenness to sample cultivated Rosa ‘Constance Spry’, pushed over a section of the dry-stone wall that separates the paddock from the garden. My farmer’s fix to fill the resultant gap—two posts wham-banged in, a section of stock fence and a strand of barbed wire—has successfully prevented ingress into the herbaceous border by the equids and livestock that pass through the paddock. And, small bow of professionalism, it’s one up on the sheep-farming neighbour who tied his collie in front of a ‘glat’ as he warmed himself at The Crown.

But the stock fencefiller is an eyesore. Less Gertrude Jekyll, more something to hide. Since my artful attempt to train the remains of Rosa ‘Con- stance Spry’ over the V-shaped hole in the wall has dwindled on the stem, I have resorted to proper measures: this frosty morn, I am repairing the dry-stone wall.

At the bottom of the heap, a hibernating toad: stone cold, suspended between life and death. A sentient gargoyle

This story is from the February 22, 2023 edition of Country Life UK.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the February 22, 2023 edition of Country Life UK.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM COUNTRY LIFE UKView All
Shaping the view
Country Life UK

Shaping the view

Shaping the view The Cart House, near Boddington, Northamptonshire A Modernist garden was exactly the right choice for this newly converted agricultural building

time-read
4 mins  |
February 19, 2025
Snakes and snails and puppy-dog tales
Country Life UK

Snakes and snails and puppy-dog tales

Two kindred spirits made it their lives’ work to collect the smallest great poems of the world’s literature’, preserving for children the nursery rhymes, games and fairy tales no longer handed down by their mothers

time-read
4 mins  |
February 19, 2025
The ghost of golden daffodils
Country Life UK

The ghost of golden daffodils

The flower remains the national emblem of Wales, but how many today are aware of the true Welsh or Tenby daffodil

time-read
5 mins  |
February 19, 2025
Kentish variety
Country Life UK

Kentish variety

Renovations, showjumping and archbishops lend character to two period properties

time-read
5 mins  |
February 19, 2025
History triumphs over invention.
Country Life UK

History triumphs over invention.

A brilliantly acted historical play about two world leaders squaring up to each other outstrips two over-produced versions of Greek mythology, despite their imported Hollywood stars

time-read
4 mins  |
February 19, 2025
The lure of Venice
Country Life UK

The lure of Venice

Vedute, the kaleidoscopic views of the maritime republic made popular by Canaletto, so enchanted the British that they not only collected them in large numbers, but soon began painting their own shimmering visions of the city

time-read
5 mins  |
February 19, 2025
Power games and the battle for beauty
Country Life UK

Power games and the battle for beauty

The Government’s plan to cover the countryside in ugly pylons with seemingly no regard for aesthetics must be vigorously challenged

time-read
4 mins  |
February 19, 2025
Mad as a box of frogs
Country Life UK

Mad as a box of frogs

With genes that bear an uncanny resemblance to our own, our amphibious frog friends have aided medical advances and captivated many cultures with their mystical powers, discovers Ian Morton

time-read
4 mins  |
February 19, 2025
Follow the yellow brick road
Country Life UK

Follow the yellow brick road

\"IN the 100th year since the death of the man who saved the daffodil I from extinction, the RHS hopes to safeguard the bulb from the perils of a changing climate.

time-read
1 min  |
February 19, 2025
Picasso's mystery lady
Country Life UK

Picasso's mystery lady

A MYSTERIOUS woman has been discovered A under underneath Picasso's Portrait of Mateu Fernández de Soto (1901).

time-read
1 min  |
February 19, 2025

We use cookies to provide and improve our services. By using our site, you consent to cookies. Learn more