Hi Brian, I tried Irribarren and a very nice chap came to have a look. Sadly they no longer sell big rocks - only about 60 - 80mm which is way too small as I do not want to cement them in place and risk adding pollutants to the water. He knows the size I would need and suggests I look for a barn or house that is falling down and try to negotiate with the owner. Having spoken to the mayor I don’t need permits (it’s my property) and she says I could use concrete blocks (parpaing), which although uglier than stone would be a lot cheaper. Still have a few weeks before the water level goes down so will have to keep on the lookout for old buildings!
It sounds as if you picked up some useful info!
If you drive north on the N147 from Moulismes to Lussac les Chateaux, there’s the remains of an old house and barn that have recently been demolished on the east side of the road near La Porcelaine. Somewhere near here, in fact…
(Edited to correct road number)
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Well done for taking the time to talk it through with your Mairesse.
best of luck with your “banking” 
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Cheers Brian, I’ll take a drive out there tomorrow.
Failing that, have a look round at renovations going on locally, ads in LeBonCoin and generally asking at local builder’s offices if they have any gravats (large) to get rid of. We used to contact local farmers when we had demolished stuff to get rid of as they were glad of it for field entrances when it rained so their tractors did not get bogged down, plus we had to pay to dump at the déchetterie when it was professional gravats.
Hi Shiba,
Thanks for that - it seems that larger pieces of stone are in relatively short supply near me. Most of the stuff available is fist size or smaller which is great for filling holes but not so good for my needs. Ideally, I would need pieces head size or bigger as these would stay in place without the need for mortar (and I don’t want to add anything that might leach into the water). I will continue down the ‘recycle old building’ route and hope I can find what I want before next winter’s rains start.
Which are perfect for gabions 
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I like the idea of the gabion baskets but they’re not cheap. About 50€/m for 50cm wide, 1m high last time I checked.
Have just checked - I could get gabions 6m long by 30cm wide and 50cm high for 163 euro each. That’s over 2,000 euros and I would still need the stone.
I do like the idea of gabions, and 50cm high would work - high enough to stop the flood. They do provide a neat finish and would mean I could use the smaller stones but it would add significantly to the cost. Still, I have a few months to make a decision.
Yes, gabions are a bit expensive but you can fill them with assorted sizes of stones, whatever is suitable and cheapest. Don’t forget that you would need to price in a good membrane as well as the gabions themselves. You also need to factor in how long it will all take. A wall made of stone won’t be cheap, even if you don’t use cut stone. I would personally price up both options, as it’s difficult to tell which would come out ahead.
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What about a nearby quarry where you can go direct. We always went direct for gravel and washed sand rather than builder’s merchants and you can hire tipper trucks at places like Leroy Merlin cheaply if you have one near you or Brico Depot.
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Bear in mind that gabions filled with stone are porous and the floodwater will just pour through and flood the land behind them. However, if you intend to raise the level of the ground behind the gabions, say to the top of the gabions, that should work nicely (provided the top of the gabions is above the high water level, that is . . . . . )
The gabions, while not stopping the water, will greatly reduce the damaging flow.
Hi Mike,
The intention is to restore the original garden level - it currently slopes towards the water due to years of flooding that has eroded the soil. My retaining wall would sit on the stony ground below the normal low water level and the garden soil level raised to the height of the wall. I do not intend to build a solid impermeable wall - just something strong and stable enough to resist erosion during the winter flooding. Using stone - with or without gabions would allow excess water in the garden to drain into the river, and I have calculated that a 50cm high wall would give me about 10cm above high water level. I waded through the garden during the recent high water levels and marked the level. I also used a laser level from the top of the garden slope to see how much above high water a level garden would be -it’s 10cm.
Hi Shiba,
Have tried local quarries - they only have fist sized lumps of rock so it would be OK for gabions but not for a retaining wall. When there are heavy downpours the smaller stones would get washed away unless they were in gabions or cemented in place. Cement for me is a no go - don’t want the chemicals leaching into the water and a solid impermeable wall would prevent drainage from the garden, plus it would be a lot more work and expense.
Is a gabion like a sanghar? kind of like a military fortification that you chuck stuff into like they do sandbags in a sanghar?
It’s one of these:
Basically fill it with rocks and build with it…
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Not sure what a sanghar is, but a gabion is a cage or basket made of thick wire mesh panels. They are usually filled with stones and used as retaining walls in gardens, or as erosion protection on river banks and shorelines.
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Hi Brian,
Well, I went to La Porcelaine, had a good look around the area you marked on Google maps and could not see a demolished building or any sign that one had been demolished. Did see several cows and a large German Shepherd that wasn’t keen on visitors so I beat a hasty retreat.