Beginners Course at Silkstone Common 21st and 22nd April 2007

I'm glad that despite the more pessimistic of the weather reports Saturday turned out to be a fine day; warm, a slight breeze and not too much sun. I chose a site away from our previous course site as David warned me that there was an equestrian event happening right next to the wall which would have made it quite a fun time for the horses and riders! As it happened the event didn't take place but the site I chose was just as much of a challenge and just off the main path through Nabs Wood. This meant our activities were very visible to the good folk of Silkstone Common who chose to wander through the woods.

The woods themselves were adorned in their spring time splendour with the bluebells in full flower against the vivid green background of the ferns and grasses emerging from the woodland floor. The woodpeckers were tapping away and the cock pheasants calling out, gathering in their hareem of hen birds.

Our introductions and theory session took place in the Station Inn in the village due to repairs being carried out at the Equestrian Centre. Mark and Julie, landlords of the Station, made us very welcome with tea and coffee while I presented the theoretical part of the course.

Theory over, we made the short trip down the road and through the woods to the walling site where we (or should I say the students!) stripped back 10 metres of existing wall which not only was in a state of disrepair but was also too small to retain any livestock (a wire fence had been erected on the field side of the wall to keep livestock from wandering. When we are finished walling round the woods there will be no need for the fence). We stripped back more of the existing wall than necessary as we needed the stone to build the wall higher and stronger than it had previously been.

Let me introduce you to the course. From L to R: Mark, Paul, Hugo, Geoff and Lee

It wasn't too long until it was time for lunch with the students all chatting about walls and why they were attending the course. It was great to see a group of strangers getting on so well with each other after only a couple of hours in each others company, which just goes to show that our walling courses can be a great way of team building!

Everyone was very attentive to my instruction and transferred this to the wall which they were building. I could tell that there was going to be a few aching muscles on Sunday morning! At the end of day 1 we had put up about a foot of the wall and after standing back and admiring it we headed of to the Station Inn for a few well earned pints and a meal at the Chilli Lodge located in the Equestrian Centre. A great meal with great company!










































































Day 2 dawned with grey skies and a hint that rain maybe on it's way. I had the kettle boiling as everyone arrived full of enthusiasm for the day ahead. Unfortunately Hugo couldn't attend on the Sunday as he had a family 'do' to attend so we look forward to him completing his course at our next session at Silkstone Common on 19th and 20th May.






It wasn't too long until we were at throughstone height. We struggled to find stones long enough to traverse the wall and I thought that we may have to use other methods to build the intrinsic strength which throughstone give us.




Fortunately we found a couple of suitable stones and a few more which were just a tad short. I decided to use two levels of throughs to ensure that our wall would be as strong and durable as possible. This also gave the students the chance to have two chances of laying throughstones which is a very important part of any DSWA examination.










It's amazing how quickly a wall goes up once the first lift is completed! By mid afternoon the wall was at it's height ready for the copestones to be placed on it.
















I think the students did a smashing job for their first wall, which was also echoed by several passers by including Teresa who is our lovely neighbour and Danny Clarke, the internationally renowned artist who lives in the village, to name a few. Thank you all for your kind comments.

Just as we were clearing the site it started to rain. Luckily there was a very nice pub waiting for us at the top of the Lane to which we retreated for the after course discussions and certificate presentation. As usual, I really enjoyed the course and meeting the people attending it. Walling never fails to attract nice folk. Thank you to Geoff, Lee, Paul, Mark and Hugo for coming on the course and we look forward to meeting you on an Improvers Course soon.

Geoff, Mark, Paul and Lee

Participants comments:

"Extremely enjoyable at a pace suited to the individual"

"Opened your eyes up to the whole thing about Dry Stone Walling. Enjoyed it! Hard graft!"

"Wonderful weekend. Nice to meet some nice people and learn the basics. See you for another course soon!"