When we first bought our farmland 17 years ago, I was required as part of the sale to erect a 450 yard fence on what formed a new western boundary. I bought a book, watched a video and followed advice from a woodsman before putting in my first ever cleft oak fence, with every post hole dug by hand. I wasn't sure what the next neighbour's livestock would be, so I put pig netting at the bottom, a first strand of barbed wire a fist above it and four finger widths from that, a final topping of barb, all held taught by stout oak strainers.
Three years later we were unexpectedly fortunate to be able to buy the field next to that boundary and some dilapidated buildings which are now our home. It was a great feeling to cut a gateway through the middle of the fence to join it all together. I now cross that fence line every day, either through the gate, or when I'm walking, over the top of the wire and through a small copse down by the railway.
For some irrational reason, I never got around to taking down the barb from the copse, instead I just untwisted the spikes for a couple of feet and ever since have climbed over, although the barbs either side still managed on occasion to scratch an unwary hand, snag my jeans countless times and even puncture what were previously waterproofs. After 14 years I finally got around yesterday to dedicating a few minutes to pulling that short stretch of barb out completely, leaving just the pig netting. It is so much easier now, I should have done it long ago.
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Anyone else have simple jobs, that have been waiting for years ?
