Dry Stone Walling Association
Waller & Dyker
An article I wrote for the Dry Stone Walling Association's Magazine - Waller & Dyker
BRINGING DRY STONE WALLING TO HAMPSHIRE
Being a Hampshire boy born and bred I did not grow up with the dry stone walls in the countryside that I frequented as a child. I had never seen a dry stone wall until my visit to the Cotswolds at the age of 11. I climbed up onto the boulders and marveled at the beauty of the dry stone wall. As a boy I was intrigued at how the wall was able to stay up, and when told that some of those walls had been standing for over 100 years I was fascinated to discover how.
Following in my Father’s footsteps, I developed a love for building. This combined with the need to earn money lead me into the world of bricklaying. I learned the trade well and always loved the challenge of heritage and feature work but I still hankered to learn the art of dry stone walling. There was something about handling and dressing the stone. I dabbled by building the odd planter and features within in our garden and I used YouTube to try to pick up tips.
My wife encouraged me to follow my dream, but I was still sceptical that there was any future in dry stone walling for me, being based in Hampshire I am very aware that Hampshire, although beautiful in parts it is not a county renowned for its undulating dry stone walls.
However, I took the plunge and enrolled on the beginners weekend course held at The Broadway Tower in November 2019 and I was hooked. Determined to learn more and with the encouragement of Ed Bonn from the Cotswold Rural Skills, I enrolled myself onto the DSWA Level One course, due to be held in the Spring of 2020. Then the entire country went into lockdown in March 2020, as I am sure you are all very aware, and my dream of beginning to learn the art of dry stone walling had to be put on hold, but as soon as Boris let us out again, I immediately got in touch with Ed once again and badgered him to ensure I did not miss out on the course which was due to be held in August 2021. It was all rather stop/start but the course went ahead. I was like a waller with a new hammer!
The Level One course was 5 days with a test day on the 6th day. The Cotswolds landscape was stunning, but with it came the Cotswolds weather. The wind and the rain didn’t prevent me from building the best wall that I could, remembering the training, advice and tips passed on to us by our very patient and knowledgeable instructor Kath Wright.
Thanks Kat, I would not have got through that test day without your support.
With Bill Noble as the examiner on the day, my marks were a very pleasing being placed joint highest.
Now for Level Two
I immediately signed up for the next course after the encouragement from Ed and Kat who both thought I was ready for the Level Two Intermediate training and exam one month later.
Knowing that it was going to be tougher and lacking the experience of the others, caused me a few sleep deprived nights, but my enthusiasm was on par with every other person on that course – it was a great team and we all helped each other through the training. James Bullock, our instructor, was fantastic and answered my barrage of questions as I practiced the construction of a ”cheek end”. There was some amazing talent in that group and I feared I was a bit out of my comfort zone, but on the test day, the stone was good to me as was the weather this time around. With Carl Watson and Andrew Loudon as the examiners I came away with the second highest score. I was exhausted but had the most enormous smile ever seen on the M4 as I headed back to Hampshire.
Dry stone walling in Hampshire might not be a thing yet, but I would like to find a way to introduce the beauty of the art. I’m looking forward to sharing my journey with you.
I would like to give thanks to Ed, Kat and James for their encouragement on this part of my journey.