So, this is what I made at
the weekend....
A dry stone wall!
Well, the beginnings of
one anyway and I have to confess that I did not make it alone.
It was a work thing, hence
my deeply unglamorous outfit.
A weekend introduction to
the ancient art of making a dry stone wall, under the watchful eye of John Holt from
the London School of Dry Stone Walling. John
has been building dry stone walls since he was a child and has a good many
years of experience and skill under his belt.
An earthy and engaging gentleman, these days he teaches his incredible
craft to groups; for education, for training, for teambuilding and well-being. It's a hell of a lot more satisfying than
paint balling, that horrible thing where you run around the woods shooting each
other with paint. Not that I've never
been paint balling. But I have learned a
bit about dry stone walling!
The method is simple to
understand. The practice is extremely
difficult, not to mention physically tiring.
Finding the right stones was frustrating for me at first. I was trying too hard to make it absolutely
perfect! Firstly I found my patience and
then I found my niche - finding and placing the hearting stones, the smaller stones
in the middle that help keep the wall firm.
We made the first three
courses and got it off to a pretty good start.
When finished it will form one of the boundaries of the wildlife area. Creatures will shelter in the crevices at the
base and, if made properly, it will last for hundreds of years.
I want to do more!
To see examples of John's beautiful
work and find out more:
London School of Dry Stone
Walling www.londonschoolofdsw.co.uk
Hugely recommended if you like that sort of
thing, which I most certainly do.
Love Dry Stone Walling
Love Life
XXX
1 comment:
sounds fun! glad your blogging once more. xxx
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