The wall between their two farms was built by their fathers, together, in 1976. Neither man could tell you exactly whose idea it was anymore — only that it’s still standing, and so is the friendship that came with building it.

A friendship built on borrowed tools

“It started because my father borrowed his father’s baler and never quite got round to giving it back properly,” one of them laughs. “Fifty years later, we still borrow off each other constantly. I couldn’t tell you what’s technically mine and what’s his at this point.”

What’s changed, what hasn’t

Both farms have modernised considerably since the 1970s. What hasn’t changed is the daily habit of leaning on the wall for a chat — rain or shine, most evenings, for reasons neither of them can fully explain beyond “it’s just what we do.”

Passing it forward

Their children have grown up doing the exact same thing — meeting at the same wall, for the same reasons. “I don’t know if they’ll keep it up forever,” he says. “But I hope so. It’s a nice way to grow old next to someone.”