Robert Frost famously said “good fences make good neighbors” and if you’re out for a walk in the woods in New Hampshire, you will likely find a stone wall. We talk with Kevin Gardner, a master stone builder and author of several books on the subject, about the on-going appeal of stone walls and how to build them. He explains the philosophy behind the craft of placing stone and examines the mythology of the stone wall and its place in the New England imagination.
Aid date: Monday, June 21. This program was originally broadcast on Sept. 26, 2017.
Kevin Gardner builds a miniature stone wall in NHPR’s Studio B.
Credit Edith W Currier
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Listen to Robert Frost reading his poem, Mending Wall:
frost_mending_wall.mp3
Listen to Robert Frost reading “Mending Wall”
Mending wall:
Visit the Stone Wall Initiative which aims to promote scientific understanding of stone walls and advocacy for their protection as cultural and ecological resources.
Find more on the history, science and poetry of New England’s stone walls in Earth Magazine.
Read more about Kevin Gardner’s projects in New Hampshire Home and New Hampshire Magazine.
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