The message
from Jane Lumley contains these words:

Thanks so much to all for your help - we've found a house with an acre
of land.... but I'm not saying any more in case one of you gazumps me!
.

Thing is, said acre is currently rather exposed to wind and traffic
noise, so dh and I are eager to make a walled garden by building brick
walls around at least part of it. Are we mad?

I've looked at several
websites and the art of bricklaying seems very jargon laden. Does
anyone know of a site in plain English? And has anyone ever done one of
those night-school bricklaying courses?

Try ex-urgler cormaic's site, www.pavingexpert.

We moved (from a rural garden well over 3 acres) partly because of
rapidly increasing traffic noise and nuisance. In our situation, it was
mostly tourist traffic; IOW, it was at its worst at exactly the times we
wanted to be outside enjoying the garden, in good weather and all
holiday periods.

Is this industrial traffic (might be quieter at weekends)? Sports or
tourist-attraction traffic, could be worse at weekends? You're seeing it
in winter; is it likely to be quieter now than in summer? Visit the area
during rush hours. Do people chug past in a slow tail of traffic at 30
mph, or race past at 70? Can you get in and out of the gate safely at
busy times? Is the traffic mostly cars, or huge reverberating trucks?
Shut yourself in the bedrooms, listen to the noise, and ask yourself if
you'll be able to sleep with a window open.

I'd think very, very hard if I were you, about what you want from your
garden and what you can tolerate. IMHO you won't shut out traffic noise
or fumes from one acre, with a wall (or anything else).

Janet.