This project was built with non-dry stone walling stone. In a past life this reclaimed stone was part of a building on the Pennies in Todmorden. The old building had since been demolished and the stone was found buried during some groundworks for new ventures.

By nature gritstone is very dense and heavy, so that was the main challenge for this project.

The project consists of three parts, namely:

• A sunken oval ring for the wildlife pond. Variation of this could be of any shape and serve a variety of purposes including; sheep pens, sanctuary pit garden,  fire pit outdoor kitchen and more.
• Semi-circle retaining wall with steps.
• French drain that runs under the pond.

Being that the entire stone build was dry stone, it was always going to be a challenge to work with the type and shape of stone that was available. With this in mind, the build pace was slow but rewarding.

In view of the intended purpose of the sunken section some rough lime pointing was used on the inside face of the pond wall. Basically this would stop the pond underlay and lining from being pushed into the joints by the pressure of the water once filled.

Barn owls, deer, all sorts of birds have been spotted here. Picture updates to follow in due course.