Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know the rest of these, but Buddies is a new one; to whom does it refer?
People of Paisley. https://www.paisley.org.uk/paisley-history/paisley-buddies/
Many thanks!
Ha-ha wall
51–60 of 115 posts
Re: Ha-ha wall
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep, and as mentioned in the article, there's also a he-he. A description is never given of it, but it's a safe assumption that it's a tiny haha, possibly only a couple inches high. Interestingly, if this is accurate, it means that the front/backness of the vowel in hehe/haha/hoho correlates with its size.
A Hon-Hon is a Ha-Ha where the incline leads directly into a tunnel.
And the chon-honnel is the one from France to England
Re: Ha-ha wall
#53The examples section on the Wikipedia page feels rather poor. The first example is a photo from the back (where the wall cannot actually be seen) and needs to be supplemented with a picture from the front, so you can actually see what the structure is! The other examples just look like standard walls. The diagram at the top does get the idea across though.
I was a bit surprised to find that Bellevue Pallace (residence of the German head of state) isn't even listed in the German wiki as an example. For me, that was the first building that came to my mind. The Ha-Ha there also has the benefit that you have a nice incline to lay on and look at the protected estate.
Re: Ha-ha wall
#54They're not just to protect from animals. You'll often find them in gardens where the area below isn't even open to livestock. The other reason for these is to hide unsightly parts of the view. If there is a road, village or other buildings in front of the house, for example, building a ha-ha could make it look like the park stretches unbroken to the horizon. It could also make it look like distant hillsides are part of your park if your own land is a little on the small side.
Source: my wife is a landscape archaeologist, specialising in post-medieval parks. We visit a lot of stately homes.
Re: Ha-ha wall
#55The examples section on the Wikipedia page feels rather poor. The first example is a photo from the back (where the wall cannot actually be seen) and needs to be supplemented with a picture from the front, so you can actually see what the structure is! The other examples just look like standard walls. The diagram at the top does get the idea across though.
I disagree, but regardless, this sounds more like a comment for the article's Talk page instead of HN. Better yet, you could go find better examples (with a free license) or take your own and add them to the article. Contributing to Wikipedia is quite fun and not enough people do it. You don't even need to make an account.
While my comment may fit well on article's talk page, I don't think it's off topic here. A few upvotes agree.
I contribute to Wikipedia already by improving maths articles, so I know the process. Your comment appears to have incorrectly assumed certain things, and worse still, you've tried to educate me in a rather patronising manner. I don't think that's in the spirit of HN.
Re: Ha-ha wall
#56Interestingly, I'm a web developer at a company housed in a stately home in Yorkshire that has a ha-ha. Can confirm that a herd of cows were not able to get on the lawn.
Re: Ha-ha wall
#57Zoo uses this effectively to give scenic view to visitors.
Re: Ha-ha wall
#58Ha ha
Re: Ha-ha wall
#59See also the 'Punic ditch'. I can't find a good description online ([1] is the most specific), but basically it's a fortification comprising a human-scale haha with the wall on the outward side, and the slope on the inward side. The idea is that attackers can cross it easily, by jumping down the wall, then charging up the slope, at which point you open fire on them, then when they turn to run way, they have to climb…
I have a hard time understanding this. Do you have a simple drawing for this?
Basically just a ha-ha but reversed so that it’s easy to get in but difficult to get out.
Re: Ha-ha wall
#60These are quite common in Gloucestershire but you would not know it unless you have some reason to be invited to the big houses that have estates.
The health and safety considerations cited in the Wikipedia page don't apply to the ha-ha walls that are situated in sizeable estates. The big house, the extensive gardens and the fields beyond are owned by the same family. It has all been inherited rather than bought with 'new money'. The family and the staff know where the wall is and random members of the public just don't have access to the area, in part because of the ha-ha. The surrounding fields are not open to the public either.
Others may use the ha-ha in a modern context to hide a car park in a hilly city setting but this is not a true ha-ha wall. These fake ha-ha walls are also for postage stamp sized plots of land. A real ha-ha is at the end of formal gardens that are so big that only gardening staff would need to go that far out from the house. The lawns should be big enough for erecting a marquee, having a large croquet lawn or whatever else goes with having a house that size.
In the true country setting, e.g. Gloucestershire or another English shire, there are far worse hazards. A child could fall from a hay barn onto some combine harvester. Or a sheep dip with those neuro-toxin chemicals could be a grizzly end. Normal cows or the bull in a field could get you too. Hopping over a barbed wire fence might not kill you but isn't necessarily easy. Only a stupid, trespassing city dweller who should not be in the countryside under any circumstances could possibly fall off a real ha-ha and any ha-ha that is not part of a grand estate is not a real ha-ha.
Rivers and flood prevention can also provide a good excuse for a stately home to have a version of the ha-ha. This will be a ditch arrangement with a berm, this hides the riff-raff using the riverside path and the ironwork that takes the place of a wall for keeping them out.