Yeah, that bit about lime mortar letting the wall breathe is so true. I mean, I helped repoint part of a 1910 factory wall once, and the old lime stuff was almost crumbly in places, but the bricks themselves were perfect. The new cement mix we had to use for the repair just felt so hard and brittle by comparison. It really does make you question the whole idea of progress sometimes.

Maybe the wind was just crazy strong, even a good pole could have broken.

Actually, that's the whole point.