Stones

The fact that four yellow stones in the snap above were far from level, has been irritating me more and more as I pass them many times most days on my brick walks, walks which do not appear to have been noticed since early November last year, at reference 1. Sufficiently out of level that the lower right edge in the snap above was an inch or more above the upper left edge. Bricks of the brick walks visible at the top, next to the yellow fish box, originally from Dublin.

Yesterday, I worked up the energy to do something about it, taking the stones out and digging out what seemed like a suitable amount of the soft yellow clay underneath.

Rather annoyed to find that I had gone to the bother of mixing some cement in with the sand when I originally laid the stones, probably well over twenty years ago now, but did not bother to set them level. Very remiss of me. Sand and cement which had now set quite hard. So separated that out and removed a couple of barrows of the clay to the bottom of the garden. Leaving a neat, more or less square hole, full of rainwater. Which at least had the advantage of being self levelling, making it easier to get the level of the clay below roughly level.

Water still there this morning, but decided to press ahead, rather than wait for drier conditions, which would probably have been sensible. Smashed up the lumps of sand and cement, smashed up a few bricks and sprinkled the resultant hard core in the hole. Added half a barrow's worth of sand drawn from the bin under the leylandii hedge. Put the stones back down, tamping them down level, this time checking the level with a level, a handily short two foot one, which had been lurking, rarely used, at the bottom of my tool box for years.

With the result snapped above. We will see how the stones settle down when the water drains away and things start to dry out.

I dare say I knew something of the theory of such matters back in my material testing days with Messrs. Sandberg, but all long gone now. No idea whether all this water is good or bad for consolidation. But I am pleased to see that Sandberg lives on, with their website going so far as to mention the laboratory in Grosvenor Gardens where I started out. Across the gardens from Polonia, a restaurant which I got to know a few years later. The half of Grosvenor Gardens which is home to an equestrian statue of Marshal Foch that is.

Reference 1: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/11/bricks-and-other-matters.html.

Reference 2: https://www.sandberg.co.uk/.

Reference 3: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/11/polonia.html.