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Dry Stone Walling Taster Weekend

Chatton, Northumberland 25-26 April 2009

So, I’ve just come back from a great weekend up North. I drove up to my in-laws’ near Morpeth in Northumberland on Friday after work. My wife and kids were already there having been visiting that week.

Here, I’m going to give an overview of the two days and my thoughts, along with any things that really struck me. It’s not my intention to give an instructional account of construction – there are many books and DVDs that can do this and, of course, there is absolutely no substitute for hands on instruction, so if you want to know how to build a dry stone wall, get out there and do it! I guarantee you’ll have a great time…

Day One

Saturday morning, I set off bright and early for and 0930 start at Chatton, just North of Alnwick, which was to be the site of my first real taste of Dry Stone Walling. I arrived at the site and met Donald, the instructor that I’ve previously mentioned and my co-newbies, Jonathan, (a chef that creates the recipes for supermarket ready-meals etc) and Ben (an Army Physical Training Corps Warrant Officer).

We were introduced to some fundamental health and safety principles, a brief geology and ecology lesson and some of the main tools that we would be using. Our job on day one would be to rebuild a section of wall that had been damaged by the sheep that were in the field that it enclosed. One of the things that really struck me in doing this was just how essential stone selection is…considering fit, where the face is, vertical fit with neighbouring stones, whether the stone has moss or lichen on the face (two sides of the same wall can operate very different eco-systems), the slope of the face and how this affects drainage...the list goes on. At every stage of the building you must be constantly appraising how the stone you are laying will affect the integrity of other stones and the overall wall. Here’s a diagram so you get an idea of how a wall is constructed.

Even the “hearting” needs careful consideration as to how it is fitted – it’s not simply a random throwing in of rubble to fill the gaps – it’s actually this that is the core strength of the wall. I felt that you really come to get a feel for how the wall is a sum of all of its parts and this takes a real focus. To my mind, this sort of work is engrossing, much like meditation (which I’ve written about on my other blog) in that it is single pointed concentration – now how many jobs are meditative by nature???

Having made a promising start we stopped for lunch and this was exactly how I’d imagined it might be in my first post. Sitting propped against wall, in the sun, viewing the mist draped Cheviot Hills in the distance. Oh glory! Today, back at work, I’ll no doubt sit in my car in the middle of a business park…maybe go to Tescos if I’m feeling adventurous. What a juxtaposition! And I’ll tell you what, a packed lunch always tastes better after a bit of graft.

As the rest of the day drew on, the wall slowly came together and by just after 1800, we’d placed on the last coping stone. I think all three of us felt a great sense of satisfaction and pride as we stood back and saw (to our eyes at least) how the work we had done blended neatly into the existing wall – a boundary built to withstand, yet work with, nature.

I left feeling tired (usually, I leave work tired by stress and frustration, here it was simply a gratifying sort of tiredness brought on by physical endeavour – so very different and a whole lot more “honest”), sunned, thirsty and probably more satisfied than I’ve felt in a long while. I was also so pleased by how close to my vision which I outlined in my first entry here, the actual experience was. Often when you open your mind’s eye, reality can fall short. Not in this case.

Day Two

Eager to crack on, we made an 0900 start, back at the same site. This time, we were to set about repairing a stone seat within the wall which was suffering from some unstable aspects of previous construction. Following the same process as the day before, we stripped out the wall and rebuilt, although, for some reason, I think all three of us felt that the stone was not as easy to work with as the previous day – it just seemed to be more irregular and the placing was less intuitive. This was helped somewhat by Donald showing us how to shape and cut stone using various hammers. Whilst keen not to abuse the use of the hammer, it did make the task somewhat easier, but I agree entirely with Donald that it was better to have learned the way we did on day one as there would have been an over-reliance on the hammers had we not.

Again, slowly, but surely, the wall and the seat took shape and by the end, looked substantially better and stronger than it had when we started the day. With both walls, progress at the start was slow, but this, I think is a reflection of the need to get the foundations right. As the wall comes together, particularly into the “second lift”, work rate increases and before you know it, something, that you, at points, didn’t feel was going to happen, suddenly materialises and you can stand back and admire something tangible from your efforts. Again – how many jobs really allow you to do that at the end of every day???

I feel that I learned a lot over the two days. Donald was a great instructor, passionate about good walling and he held nothing back from his considerable experience. I certainly feel that I’ve been fortunate to find a great teacher and hopefully, mentor, on this journey. I enjoyed spending time with the other guys and it would be great to spend time on another course with them if that’s possible – we spoke about a level 1 course in a few months so we’ll see how that comes together. Thanks to all of you for your time and company.

The things that struck me most were really around the relationship with the land around you. You’re slap in the middle of some great countryside – what an office! You’re working sympathetically with natural material – you feel it, hear it, even smell it and all of this creates a huge awareness of the environment you’re in and a sincere concern for it. I heard the phrase “stewardship” mentioned a few times and working in this type of environment really develops a sense in you that you have this type of responsibility for the nurture of the world around you.

Nearby the site we were at, there was an ancient hill fort, and some stunning rock art, that, unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to see (I will try and do that next time I’m up that way). Working in, and being part of this landscape, working in a physical way on something that occupies your concentration fully is, quite simply, awesome.

I know for certain that this is where I want to be – there is a freedom, a substance and a depth to Walling that simply does not exist in a sterile office. It’s a lifestyle. To quote Maxim Gorky “When work is pleasure, life is a joy! When work is duty, life is slavery”.

I’ve made my first foray into making my vision reality and I’m more excited than ever. Catch you soon.

Al

Could this be my new office?