Discovering New England Stone Walls At Gilmanton Historical
Society May 26
Kevin Gardner presents “Discovering New England Stone Walls” at the
Gilmanton Historical Society, Old Town Hall in Gilmanton Iron Works,
Tuesday, May 26, 7:30 pm.
Gilmanton Historical Society opens their 2015 summer program series
with a presentation by Kevin Gardner, who explains how and why New
England came to acquire its thousands of miles of stone walls, how
and why they were built, and how they changed over time. During the
program, Kevin will build a miniature wall on a tabletop, using
small stones from a five-gallon bucket.
The program is free and open to the public; donations to support the
work of the Society are gratefully received.
Refreshments and social hour begins at 7 pm on Tuesday, May 26, at
Old Town Hall in Gilmanton Iron Works. The program begins promptly
at 7:30.
The Society’s Museum, in the basement of Old Town Hall, is open at
7 pm before the program. The Museum is open for summer hours, May
to September, every Saturday 10 am to noon except July 4th and Old
Home Day (August 8).
Kevin Gardner is a writer, teacher, tradesman and life-long resident
of Hopkinton. He has been a stone-wall builder for forty years and
is the author of The Granite Kiss: Traditions and Techniques of
Building New England Stone Walls, as well as poetry, songs and
essays. For 25 years he has been a performance critic, feature
writer, and producer for NH Public Radio. His presentation is
sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.
The Society’s summer series is presented on the 4th
Tuesday of each month, May through September. June 23, Darryl
Thompson presents The Shaker Legacy. July 23 features a walking
tour of Gilmanton Iron Works Village. History of Lower Gilmanton
will be the program on August 26. The final program of the season,
September 22, is Exemplary Country Estates of New Hampshire. For
details pick up a brochure at the Town Office and review the
Society’s exhibit on Thomas Cogswell, Gilmanton’s Revolutionary War
hero. Or check the Society’s website,
www.historicalsocietiesnh.org/gilmanton.
There is a link on the Town website.
The Gilmanton Historical Society offers a number of publications on
the history of the Town. They are available at all Society
programs, at the Town Clerk’s Office, and at the Brick House in
Gilmanton Corners. The Society’s Museum, at Old Town
Hall is open Saturdays from 10 am until noon, and at 7 pm before
each of the summer programs.
Gilmanton Land Trust Completes Sale Of Conserved Fields On Route 107
Alicia and Ryan Smith, and their son Colton, pose with their Jersey
cow, Lilly, at their farm in Gilmanton. The Smiths have purchased
the spectacular fields abutting Route 107, and will use them to
produce hay for their farm animals.
The Gilmanton Land Trust Board is delighted to announce that the
fields abutting Route 107, with views to the northwest over Loon
Pond, have been sold to Ryan and Alicia Smith of Hammer Down Farm in
Gilmanton.
The fields are protected from development by a conservation easement
held by Five Rivers Conservation Trust, a regional land trust based
in Concord, which holds easements on several other properties in
Gilmanton. The Smiths will use the fields for agricultural
purposes, under the terms of the easement. They will also maintain
the views, long enjoyed by travelers along 107 in accordance with an
additional conservation easement held by the Gilmanton Conservation
Commission for this limited purpose. Future plans include timber
stand improvement on the wooded sections, including removal of
invasive vegetation, and possible maple production.
The Smiths plan to use the fields for hay to feed their growing herd
of beef cattle. Their farm, on Griffin Road, also produces eggs,
rabbits and pigs for meat. One Jersey cow will provide milk for
their growing family. Ryan Smith grew up in Gilmanton, close to his
farm. He is familiar with the area and appreciates the special
rural/agricultural character of the Town. Ryan, a skilled
carpenter, and Alicia built their home and the farm buildings, thus
the name Hammer Down Farm. Gilmanton Land Trust is proud to welcome
them as partners in helping to save some of the Town’s greatest
views as well as its important agricultural resources.
Sale of the 107 fields is the final step in the Gilmanton Land
Trust’s Gilmanton’s Greatest Views for Everyone Forever campaign, to
conserve four tracts of agricultural land in town, including
spectacular views from Frisky Hill, a parcel on Meetinghouse Road
with extensive frontage on Meetinghouse Pond and a flax retting
pond, (used to prepare flax for making linen in the early 19th
century), and a field on Loon Pond Road. Gilmanton’s Conservation
Commission manages the tracts on Frisky Hill and Meetinghouse Road,
which are owned by the Town subject to the conservation easement
restrictions.
Gilmanton Resident Graduated From Nichols College
Kimberly Alberico, from Gilmanton, and a major in General Business,
graduated with a BSBA cum laude.
Nichols College is a four-year private, not-for-profit,
coeducational institution offering associate’s, bachelor’s, and
master’s degrees as well as certificate programs.
|