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A Footbridge Garden Surprise

Several days after unearthing that huge piece of slate, Miss V and I were digging at the same location when we hit something solid. We'd been through so many episodes of pulling out cobblestones and bottles, we were sure it was just more of the same. We approached the digging from various sides and just as I slid and almost fell, we realized it was something smooth. 

To our great surprise, it seemed as though the large piece of slate had reappeared - just about a foot deeper. We swept away the soil until the entire shape was revealed: narrower and a bit longer than the original one. But it was buried deep on one end. Optimistically we prepared a place for it near the other slate, with hopes of enlarging our patio. Now, all we needed was to assemble another team of strong men.

October 1st was a sparkling day, and we were lucky to find two new friends of the garden, willing and able to help us. Had it not been for the persistence of Mr. C and Mr. R, this second piece never would have been moved. Being a Saturday, most businesses were closed, and we lacked a pick axe or crowbar.  We were left to improvise.  First we had to analyze the setting, remove more dirt. Next, a chain, a lock, a board, and eventually - two more helpers for the final move out of the hole. In all, it took 1.5  hours to make it happen. Oh, thank you Mr. C and Mr. R!!






































But, it got me to thinking, where did these pieces come from? Our garden friend, Mr. H, suggested they were probably part of the legacy of NYC sidewalks, dumped there when urban renewal required a cement sidewalk be put in. Certainly one sees a few pieces of slate or bluestone here and there in some areas of the city - but now - with my curiosity whetted,  I started looking into the subject. 

There were times when these slate and bluestone walks graced our old cities, as described here in the NYTimes in 1994. We've lost most of them. But, I found there is a Slate Museum in upstate New York! And then, by chance, I just saw one in Providence, R.I: the walk in front of the First Baptist Church, built in 1775. 

I wonder what journey our slate took, who cut it, and in what quarry it originated? And, given what our two teams went throughout to unearth those pieces, I try to imagine the truck that surely backed into what is now the garden, and dumped those heavy pieces some years ago. 











left: men cutting slate, borrowed
from the Slate Valley Museum, Granville, NY
http://www.slatevalleymuseum.org/

right: slate walk, First Baptist Church,
Providence RI, built in 1775. 





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