Falling Wall Syndrome

So it's been a good winter, cold but sunny, with the occasional flurry of serious snow and some problems on the roads with frost, but we've had none of the grey days and almost continuous wind and rain of last year. However, as with everything in life, there has to be a down side, and one legacy of this winter is falling wall syndrome.

Several sections of wall in Ormsaigbeg have collapsed. They don't go on frosty nights or when we've had a bit of wind, they go suddenly and, apparently, reasonlessly.

Perhaps it's the cumulative effect of night after night of frost followed by a quick thaw each morning as the sun comes up. Perhaps this has been lifting and lowering the lumps of limestone that make up the walls, until one block becomes unstable and the wall falls.

This might explain why, in places where there are old walls, it's usual for the whole wall to have gone, leaving little more than a linear bump running across the land. The only other explanation is that the local sheep hate walls and, as soon as they show signs of neglect, go round pushing any standing sections over.