briancutts.bsky.social
South Yorkshire to Catalonia. ELO fan. Failing Mediterranean diet. Once a physicist. Permanently perplexed. Uhtceare. Frantumaglia. Memorial Device MDANT. Woke AF. Rants on Tannu Tuva blog if you can find it.
2,881 posts
674 followers
1,209 following
Prolific Poster
Conversation Starter
comment in response to
post
No exaggeration...
comment in response to
post
Garsa i gavina, dos en u!! bsky.app/profile/mich...
comment in response to
post
Here we go!
bsky.app/profile/bria...
comment in response to
post
And to finish, four more photos of local dry-stone work and tools taken from the "La Pedra En Sec" book. 13/13 #ThatsAllFolks
comment in response to
post
The man himself (standing). Miquel Franch ('El Serrano') from Roquetes, in the lower Ebro valley. 12/n
comment in response to
post
The steps. 11/n
comment in response to
post
Same place. Second photo, probably to allow for water drainage. The small arch in 3rd/4th photos was - according to my father-in-law, whose father knew Miquel - built around the roots of a (no longer there) carob tree. 10/n
comment in response to
post
More photos. Same place. 9/n
comment in response to
post
However, as much as I admire the intricate care and art involved in the perfect work of the previous photos, I prefer his earlier work when he constructed in a more traditional style. Like these walls and steps built around olive and carob trees somewhere near l'Aldea. 8/n
comment in response to
post
Apart from walling olive groves, he was also hired - and well-paid - to build walls or decorative elements for the homes of wealthy locals. This one is in Tortosa, presumably using special kinds of stone/granite (don't ask me, not an expert!). 7/n
comment in response to
post
Moving on. This wall was built around a piece of land near Font Nova (Xerta). 6/n
comment in response to
post
Others say it was because Miquel came back during the night to re-construct whatever section was keeping him awake at night. 5/n
comment in response to
post
Same place. Legend has it that he had made a pact with the Devil because if at the end of the day he wasn't entirely happy with how the stones had fitted together, when he (and his helpers) came back the following morning, the 'problem' had been fixed. 4/n
comment in response to
post
But the point of this thread is the work of Miquel Blanch (known as Lo Serrano) in the early 20th century. He moved on from building basic walls in his early days to make walls which were works of art, even sculpting out names and dates. Example near Els Reguers (Baix Ebre) 3/n
comment in response to
post
Dry stone walls and other constructions are everywhere around us here, some sadly abandoned to their fate, others well-maintained. Some in hard-to-reach places up in the mountains where you realize how desperate people must have been to try and cultivate a scrap of soil miles away from home. 2/n
comment in response to
post
I know. Cada cop que penso en la foto i les histories d'aquelles dones, se'm trenca el cor. Un horror
comment in response to
post
Or the Opus Dei numerary, a teacher at one of its schools in Spain, who was suddenly transferred to Australia after a student made sexual abuse allegations against him
cruxnow.com/church-in-eu...