Help!

[Joy]

Now that is a good idea with the bricks..hadn't thought of that. Would they need to be mortared together like building a wall? Would I line it with newspaper / cardboard/ black plastic?

[pongeroon]

Depends how deep your beds are. You could probably get away with four or five courses of bricks without mortar, but they would be better with, I think.
If you do mortar them, don't forget to leave a few drainage gaps at the bottom. For the same reason, I probably wouldn't line them, not with plastic anyway. Cardboard would be better.
I'm thinking out loud (on the keyboard!) so please feel free to contradict me...

[Compo]

Lining them is not really a good idea, as the cardboard will only rot and hold moisture agaisnt the brickwork, plastic is not a bad idea but only to stop moisture from leeching out, a good mix of soil and compost and no liner should hold allow reasonable moisture retention, the bigger the bed the more moisture and less chance of drying out if you use a soil based compost as mentioned above you will only have to top it off every year with manure or similar

Compo

[Joy]

On second thoughts and discussion with husband we think we will give the r aised bed a miss as it will just be a large toilet for the cat! He has enough trouble now and has to have a big compost tray outside as most of the yards are concrete. Will stick with pots!