THE retaining wall built in the 1930s to shore up the football pitch and playground in Lydbrook has been fenced off after large cracks appeared in the stonework.

Barriers have been put up along the main road and Church Road, and also at the top of the wall, which is almost 30 feet high.

The wall was built in 1936 to hold back the spoil following the removal of the 'Blue Mound' – a small hill which existed between the church and the main road, which was made from the slag removed from the local mines.

To remove it, the men of Lydbrook constructed a mini railway in a spiral pattern up to the top, and 'bogey' carts were used on it to bring the material down.

Once the mound had been flattened, they grassed it over and put in a football pitch, a home for Lydbrook AFC, and a children's playground.

But actual ownership of the wall is a mystery, since it was built by local people on industrial waste land.

Lydbrook Valley Garage proprieter Matt Jones told the Review: "They fenced it all off some days ago because of the cracks. I don't know how bad the damage is or how much it will all cost to fix. Perhaps some of the local buinesses could help out with the repairs."

Locally it is thought that the cracks may have been partly caused by the massive floods last November which inundated the main road from the bottom of School Lane to beyond the bottom of Church Road, including flooding out several houses, the garage, and the Jovial Colliers pub.