Like many upland areas around the UK and the rest of the world, dry stone walls can be found all over Dartmoor. Some are hundreds of years old and have fallen into disrepair, others are well maintained and still functioning as they were intended.

The name refers to the lack of any mortar used in the construction, although often nature takes its course and soil arrives and fills in the gaps.

I’ve always loved these old walls,  to run my hand across the granite is a journey back to the dawn of time on our planet, and to make contact with all the hands that have touched before me. Dartmoor’s dry stone walls may not be as grand as those built by the Incas in Peru and I don’t suppose they can be seen from space like the Great  Wall of China, but they are living, breathing masterpieces in their own way.

Cheri Lucas Rowlands has created the photos challenge of Wall this week, click to join in.