Ridges are generally made with wheat-reed or sometimes Norfolk sedge, both of which are pliable and held down with liggers and hazel spars. Many of my ridges in Dorset were shaved flat onto the coat work, in the style recommended by the local planners.

The apex of the roof is sometimes closed in by forcing two courses together, a ‘butt-up’ ridge.

Or yealms of straw are bent over the roof.

If both ways of closing the apex are worked tightly there is not much to choose between the methods but to my mind the wrap-over ridge is a little more weatherproof as the ridge ages and the fixing spars inevitably start to drop away. In the south west straw ridges should last 10-12 years while further east they might go on longer.

 

The shaved ridge gives the same cover over the apex as a flamboyant, block-cut ridge, and was generally my preferred choice but I also enjoyed crafting patterned ridges when appropriate.

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