On a business trip to Venice, NSS reader Barnstaple Potter was fascinated to see how much stonework was being carried out in the city and sent us this photograph of some of it.

He writes: "It is a well-known fact that Venice is battling against the tide with everything they\'ve got and most of the obvious damage is to the stonework."

The picture shows the stone retaining wall that runs along the entire length of the Giudecca Canal being replaced in an attempt to keep the sea out of the properties behind.

While in Venice, Barnstaple Potter stayed at La Calcina, which was once Ruskin\'s house and was where he wrote \'Stones of Venice\'. As Barnstaple says: "How apt."