Jaques d'Alltrades wrote in
k:

The message
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

Will a foot / 18 inches of hole really support a 6 foot upright with a
(light) gate hanging on it? If so, I can probably manage that with a
pick.

If you are digging into what amounts to solid rock, yes.

If it has any give in it, I'd make it a bit deeper.

Or put an old cast-iron hurdle wheel on the end of the gate.


It's rock, but it's not what I'd call solid. It's nasty shaly flaky stuff
that cracks easily and I would have thought sideways leverage would
probably crack it in an annoying manner.

The quarry up the hill sells road fillings rather than proper stone, to
give you an idea of the consistency of it, and we are sitting on top of a
regular warren of ancient silver, copper, tin, and arsenic mines too.
(They've taken all the good stuff out now, and are down to the gravel!)

Still, at least with no granite there is no radon to worry about!

I like the 'make your own concrete post' idea best so far, though the Kanga
drill also sounds like fun!

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--