PRACTICE MEET, RIPLEY’S FARM, SPRINGHEAD, AUGUST 2025

Practice Meet: 10th August 2025

Venue: Ripley’s Farm, Brighton Road, Springhead, Oldham

This was the second visit of the Branch to this venue. Perched high above Strinesdale Reservoirs, it would likely catch any inclement weather, but fortunately, the day was sunny and bright, turning hot in the afternoon.

A dozen members attended. Previously, the end section of the wall had been rebuilt, including a cheek end and a stile for a footpath. The aim for the day was to deconstruct the next section of the old wall and rebuild from the finishing point of the first visit. The initial job was to collect stones from a site higher up on the farm and with the help of Dave, the farmer,  3 or 4 tractor loads were transferred to the build site.

A mass of stones was very quickly arranged on the grass on either side of the wall. However, on one side, the grass verge was next to a busy road, so care had to be exercised with road signs and hi-vis vests de rigeur workwear. We probably did not impress some of the local wildlife too favourably.  As the foundations were coming out a mole appeared scuttling about in the trench, but soon shot off into one of its tunnels in the bank. A nearby toad had to be taken away to find a new home elsewhere.

Through the morning and into the afternoon, the wall progressed steadily upwards. The car park of the pub across the road (The Roebuck) was pretty soon full and overflowing onto the roadside.  However, our gang was made of sterner stuff and stuck to the thirsty task undaunted, showing no signs of being tempted at all.

A very generous helping of excellent cakes from Dave, and probably mainly his wife, Hannah, provided a definite boost to morale. It’s fair to say that the cakes moved faster than any of the stones for a while.

The end of the meet saw the wall just below the level needed for the toppers to be positioned.  So, not far away from being completed, which is a testament to the efforts of all who were there.  A number of passers-by commented favourably on the improvements made and the appearance of the new wall. One had even travelled from New Zealand- clearly our reputation has gone a long way!!