The Adventures of Walter the Waller

The Adventures of Walter The Waller In The Countryside Not Far Away, Walter lived a very special life as a Dry Stone Waller. Not many people know about Walter, only Harry The Farmer and Dennis, his little friend (with his puppy dog called Millie) that lived in the nearby village. Walter has some wonderful friends and together went on some fantastic adventures. Freddie was very strong and used all of his mighty strength in all sorts of difficult situations. Polly was the glue that stuck all of the friends together, always at the heart of any problem and ready to support all of her friends. Cheeky Chappy was very, very funny and sometimes a little bit naughty. When all of the other friends were hiding and trying to stay out of trouble, Cheeky Chappy was always stepping forward and getting noticed! Tommy was always in the middle of every adventure, sometimes by himself he had to maintain a sense of order and stability when all of the others were messing around. Lilly was the most special out of all of the friends – she could transform herself into all kinds of shapes, sizes, and disguises – just by saying one magic word! Colin was like the Daddy of all of the friends – always looking down on them and providing much needed shelter when it rained and when the weather was awful. The first adventure – I am not ready ‘I am not ready’ said Harry to himself. It was the beginning of summer, and he was usually at the seaside. But Harry was not at the seaside and he looked worried. Harry stood in the middle of 100-acre field. He took off his hat, scratched his head, wrinkled his brow and stood without moving for few minutes. Harry cleaned his glasses. ‘Well,’ said Harry. ‘If I cannot go to the seaside this year, then the seaside can come to me – I will call it Farm-by-the -Sea’. But how was that possible? The East Midlands was miles away from the seaside and could Harry really be sure? The Winter had been long and hard. More snow than Harry could remember. The Spring had been long and wet. More rain that than Harry could remember. Harry made a list of all of his jobs. 1. Clean the farmhouse. Clean the windows, clean the floors, clean the kitchen, clean the bathroom, clean the living room. That was a lot to do 2. Repair the roof to the tractor shed and where his lovely orange tractor called Chambo lived. And then, clean everywhere inside and out so that he would be really proud. 3. Get ready for when his little friend Dennis from the village came to see him. And be ready with lots of toys and treats for Millie, the puppy dog. She was so funny. 4. Plant all of the crops, seeds and vegetables on the land and in the garden, ready to grow into yummy food and beautiful flowers. 5. Make sure all of his cows were ready and well-looked after. 6. Fix all of the dry-stone walls. ‘I must be getting old’ said Harry. Every year I clean the farmhouse, repair the tractor roof, get ready to play with Dennis, plant all of my crops and make sure that my cows are being looked after. And repair the gaps in the walls. And then go on holiday’. And that is why Harry was worried. He had not fixed all of the dry-stone walls, and he was not ready to go to the seaside. The dry-stone walls really made Harrys farm look pretty, but this year they were all messy. He looked North towards the old deer park – the deer had been jumping over the wall and knocked off all of the tops. He looked South, back towards the old railway trail – an old ash treen had fallen and bashed down the wall. He looked West towards the duck pod – the ivy had grown and grown and covered the whole wall and made it wobbly. He looked East, towards the village on the hill and saw that there were gaps in wall where the children had been playing and jumping. When Harry was younger, he liked to build the walls himself. But now Harry was quite old and building walls too difficult for him. ‘This is a job for Walter’ said Harry. He walked to the dry stone wall next to the old oak tree. He called out the magic words. ‘Wake up Walter’. But nothing happened. Harry called out again ‘Wake up Walter’. Whenever Walter heard the magic words ‘Wake up Walter’ he knew his help was needed. Then something very special happened. The wall began to move and Walter, who had been fast asleep all through the winter and all through the spring, came out of the wall to help Walter. Harry explained to Walter what was needed. Later that day Walter and his friends went to work. First they re-built the wall next to the old deer park. Then, they re-built the wall next to the old railway trail. Then, they re-built the wall next to the duck pond. Then, they re-built the wall towards the village on the hill. ‘Thank you Walter’ said Harry. And then Walter and the walling family went back to sleep. Chambo the tractor had known Harry since he was just a little tractor and knew that Harry was still worried. All of the jobs on the farm had been done. But what about Harry’s holiday? The next day, Chambo put a big bucket on, scooped up tonnes of lovely soft yellow sand and spread it next to the duck pond. He then took the old deckchair from the shed, put it in his trailer and plonked it in the middle of the sand. He then went to fetch Harry. ‘What a surprise’ said Harry and then sat in the deckchair. ‘Farm-by-the -Sea’ he said. ‘This will be my best summer of adventures ever’. And he smiled.