NEW WEB SITE ON LINE NOW!!!!

Our new web site is now on line. It's still in development so if you spot any mistakes then please let me know (les@hadriansdrystonewalls.com)

www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk

The first frosts.............

At last the long warm autumn turns cold. This morning was the first time this autumn that the smell of cold frost burnt my nostrils. The brown and yellow leaves blanketing the woodland floor had taken on an opaque appearance where Jack Frost had touched their ribbed surfaces during the long moonlit night. The cry of the male pheasant travelled far on the wings of the cold air making the dogs stop in their tracks to look and sniff at where the bird was hiding. My breath made small clouds as it condensed in the chilly air, disappearing quickly in the beautiful sunlight of the new day. What a joy to be alive on a day like this!

During the past week I’ve been very busy. First off was a conference at Kendal arranged by the DSWA to discuss dry stone walling training and career paths for those who would like to join our craft. It was very interesting and many good points were raised which hopefully will result in a more structured approach to our craft. An added bonus was meeting up with the lovely Tereza who was the lady who helped me to arrange my hedge laying course. Tereza told me about her homeland, Slovakia, with such enthusiasm it has made me want to visit and explore it’s towns and beautiful countryside – before the western property developers get their hands on it! So thank you Tereza for spending the time with me, and may it not be too long before we meet again.

Then it was off to Northumberland to meet with Rory and his team at Reivers Development where we will be holding walling courses next year. It’s a long time since I have been to the Comb but it’s serene, peaceful atmosphere never ceases to move me. I don’t know what it is about the Borders but whenever I venture into it’s rolling hills something inside me tells me I’m home again. The Reivers hold one of the largest team events in the UK on the last weekend in September called the Kielder Challenge ( http://www.reiverschallenges.com/about_whatis_archive_business01.htm ). In this event teams of six are put through some amazing team tasks to score points which are totalled up on day two. At the end of day one the teams navigate themselves to their designated ‘bivvy’ site where they construct their home Ray Mears style out of a couple of pieces of wood and a sheet of polythene. Day two consists of an orienteering exercise through Kielder Forest and perhaps even making a journey across Kielder Water itself to find checkpoints to collect yet more points. The event cumulates on the Sunday afternoon with the prize giving, a massive bbq and party. It’s fantastic fun and a great weekend.

Scotland from Carter Bar

From Northumberland it was into the Scottish Borders to meet with Colin from Border Stonecraft. Colin is a DSWA certified professional waller and instructor of some 22 years experience which shows in the beautiful walls which he builds from the rough local stone. I’ve never walled with stone like this before and by gum it does take a different approach to make as good a wall as Colin produces. Needless to say it rained as we walled on Friday, but to be honest I didn’t even realise I was soaked through as listening to Colin’s witty and amusing antidotes kept me thoroughly entertained all day! On Saturday and Sunday I helped Colin with his walling course. Originally there were 6 students but 3 cancelled for genuine reason and 1 called off on Saturday because it was raining! (To re-iterate we wallers put our length in at all times of the year and in all weathers!). So it was probably one of the highest pupil to teacher ratio courses ever! Young Gary actually asked his parents for this course for his birthday! You don’t get many 16 year olds who are mature enough to request something as useful for their birthday! Nick and Gary went on to build a very nice wall – in fact excellent since it was the first time they’ve walled. I can’t speak highly enough of Colin and Jackie’s (and their children Jack and Rebecca) hospitality. Jackie made sure that I left their home each night with a stretched tum full of her lovely cooking – and the content of a few bottles of beer too! So a big thank you to the Purvis family for everything. You are indeed lovely people.

Other lovely people that I met were Maggie and David Brown the proprietors of Lynwood Cottage, the B&B I stayed at while in Hawick http://www.lynnwoodcottage.co.uk/ . I have stayed in 5 star hotels which are not a patch in this fantastic accommodation. It was an absolute pleasure to stay here. My fellow guest on Thursday night was Ian St John who was the after dinner speaker at the Borders Club on the Friday night! So a big thank you to Maggie and David and I’ll see you at the end of January.

Speaking (or writing) of the end of January leads me straight into telling you about the Conserving Natural Boundaries Course, a brainchild of Colin’s, which I will be assisting with. It runs on the 27^th and 28^th January 2007 in the stunning Borders countryside. On this course you can learn hedge laying or dry stone walling or try a day on both! Cost will be £110 for the two days. So come along and learn and enjoy our ancient crafts. More details can be gained from the new web sites of Border Stonecraft’s or ours (www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk/) which should be on line very soon. Why not buy a gift voucher for this course (or any other we run in partnership with Border Stonecraft) for a Christmas present?

Well that all for now folks so as my Dad used to tell me, ‘if you can’t be good, be careful’!