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Wall versus fence

In this shot taken on the fells above Elter Water you can see stone walls and a fence together. It is easy to see why modern farmers use fences instead of walls if replacing a wall costs £270 per metre. Fences take less time to erect, are movable and cheaper. However they fall down more easily and the posts rot. I think that the dry stone walls of the upland pastures have become part of the landscape. Some are centuries old. Look at the mosses and lichens which live on them and the wildlife, mice etc which live in them. They have their own ecology. I am for the walls. What do you think?

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Uploaded on March 1, 2015
Taken on February 16, 2015