The earth this old dry stone wall stood on began to be washed away a bit, causing the wall to lean slightly by just a tiny amount. The council, in its infinite wisdom, decided the best strategy would be to lift a few of the top stones and fill the spaces with concrete. It took them 3 weeks, and after standing back, clapping and whooping at their cleverness, the entire wall fell over! I imaging the extra weight of the concrete, added to the already unstable ground, aided the wall in it's toppling! This small part didn't topple far, as a long fallen Beech trunk halted it's journey downward. Now - common sense tells me that the best way to have handled it would have been to carefully remove stones to safe distance - say a couple of metres - underpin the ground with one of the numerous railway tracks disgarded round and about in the valley, - so costing the council nothing whilst also removing unsightly detritus - then simple putting the stones back! A small mark on the underside of each stone could have been achieved in no time, and as the councils way of working calls for 2 men working, 2 smoking, 1 taking photographs, and 5 drinking tea - I can't see where it would have been of such great difficulty to achieve....but that's just me. Do they have BA courses in Uni for Common Sense? No?....I thought not. Pity really - 'tis a course which is badly needed in some quarters.... ^=^ BUT - as always, nature came to the rescue and blew enough soil into the cracks to allow this and other ferns to take hold! Apparently Nature doesn't need a Uni degree to put things to right! Back to image. It's a lovely specimen of Asplenium Scolopendrium AGM (Hartstongue fern) and according the those that know, this little fern likes well drained or moisture retentive soil. Most of the root system of this fern was growing in an around the granite which proves that the wonderful soil down in the valley is rich indeed! You don't need much! It is also said to prefer alkaline soil or neutral soil. Hmm. Perhaps, but that certainly is not the PH of the valley soil. It is as acid as it could possibly be. Hence the title. ^=^ Thank you for the faves and comments. All are appreciated. ^=^ Thank you for taking the time to look. ^=^