Hadrians Dry Stone Walls

Hadrian's Dry Stone Walls Facebook Group

2010-01-20T05:27:00.000-08:00

Hello!

We now have a Hadrian's Dry Stone Walls Facebook Group which you can find by clicking on the link below:

Hadrian's Dry Stone Walls Facebook Group

Come and meet us and like minded folk at this group! There is lots of information here about our courses, past and future; photo's and video's of our walling and social exploits and lots more!

Why don't you contribute to the Group with your walling or other stories and photo's??!

See you there!!

Happy New Year! And the new year brings snow!

2010-01-05T02:55:00.000-08:00

A happy new year to one and all!

Well the new year has started all white! We've had snow since before Christmas and it's still snowing now. I took these photo's in Nabs Wood this morning of the walls our dry stone walling courses have built over the past couple of years.

This is where the dickheads ripped out the plaques from the walls dislodging the copestones. But never mind, I have the plaques and I'll put them back into the walls once the snows have gone.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of my dry stone bridge looking very picturesque in the snow! The bridge spans the storm ditch at the bottom of my garden, just off the Trans Pennine Trail. The stream flowing under it is frozen which is the first time I've known it to do this!

We now have a group on facebook called (yes you guessed it!) Hadrian's Dry Stone Walls where there's a lot more information. It's URL is http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=312635345321

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-14T13:50:00.001-08:00

May I wish you all a merry Christmas and all the best for 2010.

This festive (?!) photo of myself and Jayne was taken after we'd finished a repair to a wall today in Southowram near Halifax.

Our logo uncovered! Hadrian in the flesh!

2009-10-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

I've been asked soooooooooooooooo many times about my logo for Hadrian's Dry Stone Walls. No it's not Sid James from "Carry on Walling"

The truth is that the influence for our name of Hadrian's Dry Stone Walls came from my wife Susan, and our logo from the beautiful bust which my mate Pete had made and painted. I like influence and I like busts so it was a done deal!!

So here we are isn't this figurine fantastic?!! It's now in our possession and I can only say a HUGE thank you to Pete Watson for this work of art which will always be revered a treasured possession.

A Hadrian's Dry Stone Wall at the Pure Records Recording Studio - recording label for Kate Rusby

2009-10-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

This is phase I of a multi phase project to build, repair and replace the dry stone walls around the beautifully located recording studios of Pure Records. While I was walling it was easy to be inspired listening to the lovely music of Kate Rusby and Damien O'Kane being made the studio above my head! The soundtrack is by Kate Rusby and is one of my favourites and never ceases to bring a tear to my eye as she sings it so beautifully. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Teaching Dry Stone Walling to the Pennine Camphill Community

2009-09-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

I was aked to run a course for the young people with special needs at the Pennine Camphill Community in Wakefield (where I keep my bees!). I did this in July and the video below is the result.............

A dry stone walling challenge!

2009-09-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

This was to be a great project which took some time to think about!

Nick and Tracey wanted to bring a certain character to their garden and they were pretty sure that dry stone walling could help them acheive the ambience they desired. Have a look at the video below and see what you think!

dry stone bridge - my garden project phase 12b

2009-09-02T11:55:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd pop this onto the blog. It's the latest phase of my garden project which has been ongoing for some time. It spans a storm ditch at the rear of my house adjacent to the Trans Pennine Trail in Silkstone Common. I'll post the full tale of the garden project later.

This is the driest the ditch has been since early May. It's been a foot deep in water and smelly sludge for most of the year making building a VERY difficult task.

With this part of my garden project I was assisted by the Hadrian's International Walling Team of Jalda (Germany), Gui (Brazil) and Dean (Cawthorn UK) - many thanks to them for their help.

Gui and Jalda

Play the video below for the exciting removal of the former when anything could have happened!!!!

......

Les

The camerawoman gets excited as Gui tests the bridge......

Gui

If you would like a dry stone bridge building give me a call on +44 (0)7952 551025 and I'll be pleased to discuss your requirements with you.

Hadrian's Dry Stone Walling Course at Hebden Bridge August 2009

2009-09-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

This truly was a multi national course! Two ladies from Germany and a gentleman from Brazil - oh and Jim from Birmingham!! Four students for the Improvers Course and six for the Beginners Course.

As usual when Barry visits Hebden Bridge it was raining! Luckily I'd taken the precaution of buying a tunnel canopy for our course tent which was a God send as we spent quite a lot of time sheltering in there!

I'd like to title this photo - "Is it an ass or is it a horse" - you decide!

The photo's don't do justice to the amount of rain we had!

This is Jalda from Hannover contemplating walling over a hot cup of coffee.

We had a terrific meal on Saturday night where 13 of us sat down at the Olive Branch in Hebden Bridge. Oyuz and his staff served us with some brilliant special meals which were delicious. I'd thoroughly recommend a visit to the Olive Branch if you're in Hebden Bridge and tell them Les from Hadrian's Dry Stone Walls sent you!

We also had a look around the local pubs and the Hole Int Wall was great with live music and a good atmosphere.

This is Gui from Brazil suitably dressed for a British summer!

Suzi, originally from Nuremberg is seen here shaping stone to fit in the wall.

Another fantastic course and a couple of good nights out with some truly great people. Thank you to all the students on the course, Ann and John for accommodating us all at Riverdene House which was wonderful, Helen and Phil for letting us onto their land, the staff of the New Delight Colden for keeping us refreshed and Oyez and staff at the Olive Branch. Nearly forgot to say a big thank you to my co-instructor Barry Heeley!!

L to R: Barry, Joanne, Susi, Jalda, Gui, Gary, Jim, Roy, Matthew and yours truly (Justin and Jacob not in the picture)

And to finish off, a couple of video clips of the course in progress

Hadrian's Dry Stone Walling Course July 2009 at Silkstone Common

2009-07-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

For the first time since we started the dry stone walling courses at Silkstone Common we had bad weather! It persisted it down most of Sunday but it did nothing to dampen the spirits or the walling skills of the students on the course!

Here we are at the start of the course in the Station Inn going through the theory i.e. health and safety, history of walling, techniques etc while drinking cups of tea provided by Mark and Julie the landlords of our local pub.

Theory completed it's down to Nabs Wood to start putting in the foundations.

Day one complete it was time to adjourn to the Station Inn for a well earned pint or two and then onto the Chilli Lodge for what proved to be a superb curry. Abdul and his staff certainly excelled themselves that night and impressed our budding dry stone wallers who had travelled far and wide to join us for the weekend.

Day two started with placing the throughstones into the wall just to chase the cobwebs away.

Barry isn't doing Tommy Cooper impressions he's explaining the method of using lapped throughstones.

We had a visitor half way through Sunday morning in between the showers. This is Dean and Bodie his new chocolate lab. Dean has been on several of our courses and likes to stay in touch with us and the courses we run which is great! That's perhaps the spirit behind why past course members, professional wallers - and people who have just become attached to us (how good is that??!!!) gather together and join the current course members at the Chilli Lodge on the Saturday evenings of our courses which is a really good night!

Despite the rain we still managed to have a laugh, even when the water started running down my back!

L to R: Sandra, Samantha, Ruth, Andrew, Nigel and Paul

Yet again we have been SO lucky to meet such lovely people who it was a pleasure to teach and spend the weekend with!

With thanks to the smashing folk on this course, Mark and Julie at the Station Inn, David Compton of Westfield Equestrian Centre for donating the stone to make the course possible, Barry Heeley of High Hoyland Dry Stone Walls for his help and support even though he's not been a well teddy bear of late and the good folk of Silkstone Parish who support me in my efforts to re-wall Nabs Wood.

Hadrian's visit the land of Jason and the Argonauts

2009-07-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

I had the great pleasure of visiting Volos, Greece along with my wife Susan and her colleague 'Griff' and his good lady 'B'. The mission was to audit and invigilate exams at Lavender International's partner company TQCC.

Volos lies 320km north of Athens on the coast of the Aegean. It's a port and a ferry terminal to the Greek Islands and was the departure point for the Argos crewed by Jason and his brave band of heroes on their quest to find the Golden Fleece (http://www.mythweb.com/heroes/jason/). Mount Pelion which towers above Volos, is also the mythological home of the Centaurs although we didn't see any on this visit.

We stayed in the Xania Hotel situated right on the waterfront and which turned out to be a lovely place to stay with nice staff and great facilities.

Aftera long, long journey and a wash up and brush up we met our hosts who took us to a nearby village for Tipparoo (my spelling). Tipperoo is a spirit which is quite like a mild version of Ouzo but the bonus being is that when you order a Tipperoo you also get a small dish of food. With each Tipperoo ordered more food is served - fantastic! This was the beginning of some of the most fantastic hospitality by our hosts Athena, Dimitris, Marita and Paulis which must have been very tiring for them but which was, and is, greatly appreciated.

B and Susan relax after a hard days work

A memorable part of our trip was a visit to Mount Pelion which towers above Volos for a meal with our hosts. The views were terrific and the villages were just fantastic. As a dry stone waller I really appreciated these villages and their buildings which are beautiful and a work of art.

The Ladies L to R Marita, Susan, B and Athena

I would just like to thank Athena, Marita, Dimitris and Paul for their hospitality, patience and time to make our visit wonderful and I hope I can return the favour some day. Also a huge thank you to Michael, the MD of TQCC who has not been well of late and was unable to join us.

L to R: Dimitris, Susan, B, Griff, Athena, Paul and Mirita

Our June Dry Stone Walling Course at Nabs Wood Silkstone Common

2009-07-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

First of all my apologies for not posting these photo's and videos earlier but I've been so busy (some of my busy-ness (if there's such a word!) will be posted onto this site when I get the time!) creating a beautiful retaining wall at the recording studio of Pure Records http://www.purerecords.net/ (Kate Rusby's own label) and now teaching the young folk with special needs at the Pennine Camphill Community http://www.pennine.org.uk/ .

Here we go then for the June course. As usual we had a course full of wonderful people and we had a great laugh. We had a splendid meal at the Chilli Lodge on the saturday night followed up by severe southe westerlies from Justins bottom on Sunday!

It was unusual to have two father and son teams on the course - Roy and Matt and Justin and Jason who are in the process to emigrate to Oz - lucky, lucky people!!!

Another great course with smashing people!

L to R: Barry, Justin, Jacob, Mike, Charles, Matthew, Roy and Matt

A new garden wall for the Owens Family

2009-06-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of building this wall for our friends the Owens Family in their lovely garden.

If you would like a Les Young dry stone feature in your back garden then give me a call on +44 (0)7952 551025.

"Thank you Les - it's absolutely beautiful" Teresa Owens

Dry Stone Walling Course at Hebden Bridge May 2009

2009-05-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

On this course we had Beginners, Improvers and a practice for Level 1 DSWA/Lantra examinations taking place. It was a great pleasure to welcome back past students and welcome new students to the beautiful (and very wet!) Colden Valley, who were wanting to learn the ancient craft of Dry Stone Walling.

All looked well on the Saturday morning as we walked up the hill from the accommodation after spending an hour learning all about H & S and the theory behind dry stone walling. As a precaution we had brought our shelter tent as the weather forecast wasn't too clever according to the BBC - and who argues with the BBC eh?!

Not long into stripping down the wall which the Beginners and Improvers were going to work on, the heavens opened and, just as it had done last August, it persisted it down in sharp bursts. But I'm very glad to say it didn't stop the walling - nor the banter!!

"Billy No Mates" Jayne drew the short straw and got started with her practice level 1 test on a section of wall (located at the top of the hill about 400m as the crow flys from where the lads were walling) which Helen had asked us to repair. I knew there wouldn't be enough stone to complete the repair but the gap was more than the 2.5 sq metres required for the level 1 test which was sufficient to give Jayne a taste of what is ahead when she takes her dry stone walling exams.

After a good soaking and slipping about in the mud it was all too soon time to pack in for the day and descend into Hebden Bridge for some fantastic beers and a GREAT meal at Theo's Greek Cypriot Restaurant. (We'd had a stunning Turkish meal at the Olive Branch the night before so honours even as far as we were concerned!!)

Day two started a little better but deteriorated as the day worse on. As before it didn't dampen our spirits (even when one of the tent poles snapped in the wind!) and the walls started to rise at a rapid rate.

At lunchtime Steve serenaded us with his version of one of my favourite Mississippi John Hurt songs, "Ain't Nobodys Business", and very good it was too!

Thanks to everyone for a great course and not letting the weather get to you!

Here are some photo's and videos of the course:

Beginners Course from L to R: Steve, Steve, Ray and Ian

Improvers Course: Louis and Neil

Level 1 test practice from the centre: Jayne

A big thank you to Helen and Phil for the use of their land, walls and facilities (get well soon Helen!). Thank you to John and Anne Greenacre of Riverdene House, Colden for their immaculate accommodation and even better breakfasts; to the New Delight, Fox and Goose and the many other pubs in Hebden Bridge who kept our fluid levels up (this is starting to sound like an Oscar acceptance speech!); to the Olive Branch and Theo's for their superb cuisine and to Bary Heeley for his assistance in instructing a thoroughly nice group of people.

Hadrian's Dry Stone Walling Course in Nabs Wood April 2009

2009-05-15T00:50:00.000-07:00

For it being April the weather was pretty kind to us with only a fierce north wind to contend with.

There were Beginners and Improvers on the course which made it a busy weekend for the instructors.

Here's what happened -

If you would like to attend a dry stone walling course or require dry stone walls built please visit http://www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk/ or call +44-752-551025.

Putting in the plaques for our 2008 courses at Nabs Wood

2009-04-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

Nabs Wood was the scene of a tragic event in 1838 where 26 children drowned in the Huskar Pit Disaster. To keep the woods as a fitting memorial to the children our dry stone walling courses are rebuilding the walls around the wood.

After each years courses we place plaques in the wall with the names of those that have been on our courses, those who have very kindly donated stone and those who have helped out.

In March 2009 three past students kindly gave up their time to place 2008 plaques in the walls where the courses had built their part of the walls. This video shows the courses in progress and the plaques being paced in the walls.

I'd like to thank all past students, donators and helpers so very much for their efforts which have been brilliant and especially those students who returned and proudly placed their plaques in the walls.

Change of date for ColdenCourse In May

2009-03-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

Due to circumstances beyond our control the May 09-10th Course at Colden will now take place on May 16th and 17th. Sorry for any inconvienience.

Hadrian's Dry Stone Walls On Tour - Scotland v Italy Feb09

2009-03-09T02:15:00.001-07:00

We have visited Rome several times to watch the Italy v Scotland game which has always been a terrific occasion with the Italian supporters being wonderful to us. Our friend Massimo helps us get our tickets for the game so we were delighted when he said he would come over for the Scotland v Italy game at Murrayfield. It would be Massimo's first rugby international, him being a very keen football supporter.

I put together this compilation of a great weekend. What a boost the Scottish economy got that weekend!!

Thanks to my friends for making this so good, to Massimo for coming over and plunging into the unknown, to the Italian supporters we met and had several drinks with, La Maison Bleue for a terrific mail, Premier Inns for a great stay and the Bow Bar - my favorite pub.

Dry Stone Walling around a newly built house

2009-03-03T02:03:00.000-08:00

First Dry Stone Walling Course of 2009 and Placing Of Plaques

2009-02-17T02:31:00.000-08:00

Just in case you've forgotten, the first dry stone walling course of 2009 takes place on 7-8th March at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common, South Yorkshire. Due to a cancellation there's a place available on the course. Please go to the web site to apply.

In addition we'll be placing the plaques in the walls we built last year. The plaques have the names of those who have built the walls or helped with stone donations. We have past students coming along on Saturday afternoon to build the plaques into the walls and then go to the Station Inn for a pint or two of landlord Mark Greys finest ale.

We'll also be going to the Chilli Lodge for a curry. It's recently been refurbished and they've also launched a new menu. It had a great menu before but the new one is even better and the dishes are superb. If you want to join us let me know by 6th March so I can forewarn Abdul and his staff - 07952 551025.

Win a DVD containing all you need to know about Dry Stone Walling!!

2009-02-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

Here's your chance to win a cracking DVD in which revered Master Craftsmen explain how to build a dry stone wall, reveal some of the history of dry stone walling, show you dry stone features and much more. It's a gem of a DVD and anyone with an interest in dry stone walling should have it as part of their reference library.

How do you win it?

Answer these three questions correctly to be entered into the draw for the DVD:

1. What are the missing words from this quote which can be found by playing the "What we do!" video on our home page?

"Despite my aching muscles a fantastic weekend. ___________________________, I will be back"

2. An 'A-Frame' can be made using pins named after a part of an animal. What are the pins called? (You can find the answer in our e-shop via our home page or at my-emporium.co.uk)

3. When do our Beginners Dry Stone Walling Courses begin and end? (the answer on our web site under "courses"!)

Place your answers in the message box of the on-line contact form on our web site, fill in your details and send it to us. Correct entries will be put into a draw and the lucky winner picked out of my favourite walling hat on 1st April 2009. We'll then contact the lucky winner by email and send off your prize.

Good luck!

Postscript: 1st April 2009.

I am very pleased to announce that the winner of the DVD is Mr Derek Liddell from the UK!

Thanks to everyone from around the globe who entered the competition. Watch this space for the next one!

Santa Claus the closet Dry Stone Waller!!

2008-12-12T04:47:00.000-08:00

There I was thinking of what to put on this site to celebrate the festive season with the people who have been on our dry stone walling courses, had walls and features built by us, customers of our e-shop and friends we have met through this site.

Lo and behold, I got some festive photo's of Santa Claus and a miniture dry stone wall. So its official! Santa Claus makes dry stone walls during the summer!!

Santa and his dry stone wall

Santa's livestock give their seal of approval to his wall!

Santa's groupies admire his handiwork!

Santa's Christmas wishes just might come true!

May you have a very merry Christmas and all the very best for 2009!!

Thanks to Jayne Hill for the fly on the wall photo's of "Santa the Dry Stone Waller". She may be as mad as a mongoose but she's a lovely lass, a good waller (and getting better!) and a great friend!

Les Young Appears on BBC TV's Escape to the Country

2008-11-05T05:22:00.000-08:00

Diane's Wall

2008-10-14T05:32:00.000-07:00

Now here's an interesting project which we were involved in this year. Diane wanted some ideas on what to do with this wall which was in need of repair.
Diane also wanted something a bit different as the gateway into her garden. Maybe something to train her Wisteria over to train it onto her lovely period house?

Here's the outcome of several visits to Diane's home with drawings to discuss ideas with her and husband John. After several hours of deliberation and discussions Diane and John decided on the design they liked best.

We rebuilt the wall to encompass a wrought iron gate, bringing the wall up to meet the top of the gate, which has the effect of concentrating the eye on the gateway and the garden beyond. It was difficult to build due to the monstrous trellis 6 inches behind the wall which the Wisteria was growing up. I had several run ins with that Wisteria which turned the air somewhat blue!!

Here's the lady of the house, Diane, with the finshed wall - a very happy lady!

Thanks to the building team of Jayne and Jake and to Diane and John for their support during the planning and building - and the endless cups of tea which kept us going!

Walling Course at Silkstone Common 11-12 October 2008

2008-10-14T04:23:00.000-07:00

For being the middle of October is was surprisingly mild in Nabs Wood as we kicked this course off. After the usual theory session, tea & coffee in the Station Inn, Silkstone Common getting down to stripping down the wall began. As usual it didn't take long for the people on the course to start chatting with each other, and more importantly, work with each other.

We were very happy to welcome our second Australian lady, Lisa, onto this course (our first Aussy lady was called Lisa - are all Aussy ladies called Lisa??!!). As you can see from the photo above she was so keen that she was just a blur as she got stuck into the walling!! So where are all the Aussy blokes on our walling courses? Surely they all can't be in the bar!!

Jane (in the black hat above) is a lovely lady in her 60's. She's also very brave and determined as she's recently had both hips replaced and here she is on our course, which she managed very well indeed!

Richard and Steve are already DSWA Level 1 qualified wallers and they were on an Improvers Course to hone their walling techniques and learn how to build a cheek end (wall end) which is required to progress and pass Level 2 exams.

We brought day one to a close at about 16:30 after a good days work. As Mathew pointed out we all were due to a blood transfusion to replace lost blood because the midges were wicked towards late afternoon! A couple of beers and a super meal at the Chilli Lodge soon sorted that out though!

It rained overnight and when I did my initial survey of the site just after dawn on Sunday, it was still raining. By 09:30 when we were all gathered the rain had stopped and the sun was forcing it's way from behind the clouds to give us a lovely warm sunny day to complete our wall. Even the midges must have taken time off to sun bathe as we weren't bothered by them at all! How strange!

The chuckle brothers (Shaun and Mathew) provided some really funny banter and comments keeping us all laughing.

Peter was the 3rd member of the Improvers Course and he managed to learn how to build a cheekend and a retaining wall to help him with his first commission. Peter was on our Beginners Course at Hebden Bridge in May. In the photo above the Improvers are swapping notes or maybe bartering with each other for decent cheek end stone!

Quite a lot of story swapping on lots of different topics goes on during our courses! Here John and Rob are sorting out the Credit Crunch over a cuppa!
Pete prepared the very wet ground for his small retaining wall putting into practice some of the drill movements he learned many years ago.

L to R: Back - Craig, Barry, Rob, John, Dean, Mathew, Shaun, Richard

Front - Peter, Steve, Jane and Lisa

And here they are as one. As usual the course was full of nice and interesting people from all walks of life. It was a real pleasure to teach them and have their company for the weekend.

Dry Stone Walling Courses 2009

2008-08-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

Here are the dates for our Dry Stone Walling Courses for 2009:

Dates	Location	Grade
7-8/03/09	Silkstone Common	Beginners & Improvers
28-29/3/09	Private Course
4-5/4/09	Silkstone Common	Beginners & Improvers
9-10/5/09	Colden	Beginners & Improvers
6-7/06/09	Silkstone Common	Beginners & Improvers
18-19/6/09	Silkstone Common	Beginners & Improvers
15-16/8/09	Colden	Beginners & Improvers
12-13/9/09	Silkstone Common	Beginners & Improvers
10-11/10/09	Silkstone Common	Beginners & Improvers

TBA		Walling For Women
TBA		Special Features

You can get more information from our web site and pay for courses at our shop where you can also buy walling tools, books, clothes and much more!

Dry Stone Walling Course at Hebden Bridge August 2008

2008-08-18T06:47:00.000-07:00

This is the wettest course we've held so far! It absolutely tipped it down all Saturday. Waterproofs were no protection against the rain.

Barry looks a bit forlorn in this picture! He looks how the rest of us were feeling!

It was that bad that I called it a day shortly after 15:00 as it was getting so slippy. So we instructors retired to our accommodation, Riverdene House, where John and Ann had switched on the heating in preparation of us returning with wet gear. A quick shower then into Hebden Bridge where we had another (we ate there on Friday night too!) great meal at the Olive Branch which is a Turkish restaurant run by Oguz and his team.

Chris Heeley came along with us to repair a retaining wall in Helens & Phil's paddock - as well as to drink lots of beer!
Sunday was a better day - thank goodness. We cleared away about 6 inches of oozing mud which had collected during the night. All our boots were still soaking off the previous day - except mine because I'd remembered to bring my very warm and dry Toggi wellies!

It didn't take long for the ground to churn up and despite there being only two short sharp showers, the ground didn't dry up at all.

Here's Bernadette trying her hand at mud dancing!

We were really starting to struggle for decent stone by the time we got to wall height which required some heavy hammer work to make 3 pieces of stone from one! Here's Bill taking a swing at a BOB (big orrible b*£$&"!) to make more building stone. Notice the Heeleys doing what they do best - standing and watching!

Yours truly tidies the gear away while Bill inspects his handiwork.

From L to R: Chris, Bernadette, Andrew, Fred, Bill (kneeling), Colin and Andrew. A really nice bunch of people and a real pleasure to teach.

The course with the addition of Chris Heeley on the left and big daddy Heeley, Barry, on the right.

Help For Heroes Raffle

2008-07-29T04:44:00.000-07:00

The raffle for a Dry Stone Walling Course which we have been selling at the demos we have recently done was won by Mr John Maltby. Congratulations!

All proceeds will be donated to Help For Heroes.

Thank you very much for all those who supported the raffle for this great cause.

Classic Car Show, Cannon Hall

2008-07-28T02:03:00.000-07:00

Good grief it was a scorcher! I'm sure that by the time we'd finished building our BBQ I had sun stroke! Anyway, it was a great day, met some smashing people and enjoyed some nice food off our BBQ.

With thanks to Barry, Chris, Max and Rob for the loan of the stone.

The BBQ is built, the sausages are on with the lovely backdrop of Cannon Hall in the background.

Dry Stone Walling Course at Nabs Wood 12th and 13th July 2008

2008-07-14T04:55:00.000-07:00

This course has got to have contained the quickest wall builders so far! They had their section of wall built by lunch on Sunday and after lunch they completed another wall which was started by the children burying their time capsules on 4^th July. Not only were they quick but they did a good job too!

I learnt something on this course. Apparently Fiona’s current waller puts toad holes in his walls. First I’ve heard of these! I’ve built bee boles before and built a few more ‘features’ than I would like to be accredited with, but this was my first experience of toad holes! Not content with toad holes, Fiona and Sarah actually put some foliage in the wall for toad bedding! I thought I was there to teach the course to build a wall not a toad sanctuary!!

We had another splendid meal at the Chilli Lodge on Saturday evening where we were joined by spouses, offspring and friends.

L to R: Standing: Neil, Mike, Paul, Sarah, Nick, Diane

Kneeling: Mick, Fiona, Andy and Dale

All in all another great course with great people! Thanks to all participants and to Barry for helping out – and for managing to stay vertical for the whole course!

Darton Carnival 6th July 2008

2008-07-10T01:56:00.000-07:00

I was invited to do a demonstration of dry stone walling at the Darton Carnival last weekend. I roped in Barry and Chris Heeley, Max and my eldest daughter Laura.

We had everything arranged and we were set to do our stuff when I got a call from Barry on Saturday telling me that the stone supplier who was going to lend us some stone had let us down. Panic! We made a few calls and eventually found a stone merchant which was open to buy some stone. Some demo it would have been without stone! We hurtled to the stone yard before it closed at lunch and loaded two tonnes of stone onto the pick up and once again everything was ready for the demo the next day.

Sunday was grey and gloomy as we made our way to the ground where the Carnival was being held. There were beer glasses everywhere from the previous days music festival which was apparently very good (our old friends the OFB Band were playing so it must have been!). We had some right fun and games erecting the gazebo but it was just as well we managed because soon after it was up the heavens opened. It wasn’t long before we were joined under our shelter by others who were displaying at the Carnival including a detachment from the Yorkshire Regiment who were hoping to build an assault course for the children (this never happened for safety reasons which was a shame).

We eventually took the plunge and started building our feature in the rain which was a small wall with steps up the side. The gates opened soon after and people started trickling in – much like the rain down my neck! We spoke to lots of nice people and got invited to the Vintage Car Rally at Cannon hall on 27^th July – so we’ll see you there!

Thanks to Barry, Chris, Max and daughter Laura for their help and company through that damp day!

The Demo Team!
L to R: Max, Chris, Me, Laura and Barry

170th Aniversary of the Huskar Pit Disaster

2008-07-07T05:29:00.000-07:00

On Friday 4th July we commemorated the 170th Anniversary of the Huskar Pit Disaster where 26 children were drowned.

My vision was to have children from all around the surrounding district involved in project work about the disaster and on the anniversary, to have them place time capsules in the walls we are repairing at Nabs Wood and have the children wall them in for posterity. Take up for this 'vision' was limited to say the least but at one school, Kirk Baulk of Hoyland, Barnsley shared my vision. Their teachers, Mr Wilson and Miss Linsley, spend some considerable time and effort with their classes producing projects about themselves and the disaster.

The result was that on Friday afternoon we had the pleasure of welcoming 6 pupils and their teachers to Nabs Wood. We were very fortunate in that Alan Gallop, author of Children of the Dark had very kindly offered to speak to us about what happened on that terrible day. His narration of events held us spellbound and I certainly had a lump in my throat as Alan told us the details of what happened. I think part of the atmosphere was that we were at the site of the day hole where the children were drowned just feet from where we were standing and almost 170 years to the minute when the disaster occurred.

Alan Gallop, author of Children of the Dark

Alan had brought along some flowers and he gave one to each of the children and a few of us adults. We let the flowers fall into the day hole as an act of remembrance to those poor children and their families, who must have been devastated.

This lady is a direct descendant of Sarah Newton who was killed 170 years ago

The serious side of the day over, we went to the walls and with a little bit of blurb and instruction from myself the youngsters were soon in full flow placing their time capsules into the wall and putting stone into the wall to bury their work for future generations to find. I had to ask Mr Wilson if he'd been giving these lads and lasses dry stone walling lessons on the side such was the standard of their work!

Unfortunately their day came swiftly to a close and all too soon we had to say goodbye.

L to R: Neil Wilson (Head of History), Joseph Bradley, Lucy Webster, Tom Slack, Rebecca Jones, Lauren Fletcher, Michael Barrow and Gemma Linsley (Class Teacher)

I would like to thank the pupils of Kirk Baulk School, those who were lucky enough to visit the woods and those who couldn't, for making my vision a reality and of course to their teachers Neil Wilson and Gemma Linsley without who's enthusiasm and hard work none of this would have happened. A really nice bunch of folk. Also to Barry and Chris Heeley of High Hoyland Dry Stone Walls who gave up their day to help us on this special day. Last but not least, a very special thanks to Alan Gallop who also gave his time to paint a picture in words of that terrible day.

P.S. I went to see 'Profit and Loss' a play performed by local people at Silkstone Paris Church on Friday evening which was about the Huskar Pit Disaster. It was an excellent performance very well acted, some of whom were relatives of those who died all those years ago. The evening came to a close with the children who played the 26 children who died laying flowers on the monument in the church graveyard. Very moving.

What we do! Our new Video!

2008-07-07T01:59:00.000-07:00

Course at Nabs Wood 14th-15th June 2008

2008-06-16T05:35:00.001-07:00

The second dry stone walling course of the year in Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common took place on 14^th and 15^th June.

The course comprised of Beginners and Improvers returning to hone their skills.

After the initial theory session in The Station Inn and copious amounts of tea and coffee served up by landlords Mark and Julie, we travelled the short distance to Nabs Wood.

David Compton from Westfield Equestrian Centre and myself had moved 10 tonnes of stone (kindly donated by Stuart Olney of T S Booker) to the walling site for the students to build with. I suppose it was a bit of a coincidence that Stuart was doing an Improvers Course using stone which he had donated!

We achieved another first this weekend! We had our first Australian on the course – Lisa, and a lovely lady she is too!

Barry soon got into his stride trying out all kinds of resting places until he found the most comfortable tree in the wood to perform his Yogi Bear impression!

Doug had travelled from Norfolk to take part in the Improvers Course staying at Wentworth Castle, and very nice it was to see him again.

We retired to the Station Inn after a hard days walling and we were joined by several students from previous courses. After some re-hydration we wended our way to the Chilli Lodge for a smashing meal, great company and a good laugh!

Several of the students were suffering from aches and pains as we started the second day. That didn’t stop them from getting stuck in with their walling

Barry even found time to teach Chris his method of performing horizontal walling!

Another great course with smashing people and even the rain held off until we were safely installed in the Station Inn for a course debrief!

Grant and Stuart with their cheek end

Doug with his cheek end

Beginners for L to R: Paul, Chris, Mark, Paul and Lisa

The whole course, back L to R Chris, Mark, Paul, Lisa, Stuart and Grant

Front L to R: Doug, Paul and Barry

Thanks to all the students for making it a great weekend. To Barry for his assistance, to Stuart and David for their stone donations and my wife for mowing the lawn while I was enjoying myself!

Dry Stone Walling Course Dates and Venues for 2008

2008-05-15T01:22:00.000-07:00

Here are the remaining dates and locations for our Dry Stone Walling Courses during 2008. There will be other courses scheduled to cope with demand so please keep your eye on this site and also at www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk/courses/index.php.

Here we go then:

14/15 June 2008 Beginners and Improvers at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common

12/13 July 2008 Beginners and Improvers at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common

21/25 July 2008 Special Features at the Pennine Camphill Community, Wakefield

9/10 August 2008 Beginnersand Improvers at Colden near Hebden Bridge

13/14 September 2008 Beginners and Improvers at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common

11/12 October 2008 Beginners and Improvers at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common

For further details please see our web site or better still call Les Young on +44 (0)7952 551025.

Dry Stone Walling Course at Hebden Bridge 10th & 11th May 2008

2008-05-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

We’ve just had a cracking weekend at Colden near Hebden Bridge! The weather was hot, the scenery stunning and the students a great set of lads.

Stripping out the wall was hot work and once I got the stove working, several cups of tea were drunk while I watched the course hard at work!

Louis was the first American to attend one of our courses (and hopefully he won’t be the last!), and a very nice man he is too! We’re hoping to welcome Louis and his grandsons back on a course in the future.

We ended day one as the thunder rumbled away in the distance, threatening a downpour to spoil a beautiful day.

Day two was even hotter than the Saturday. As an instructor I try to ensure that I don’t break into a sweat – I like my students to do the sweating, but there was no way of avoiding it! Good job most of us had sun cream on. In fact Alan looked decidedly anaemic with his factor 50 plastic skin in a bottle! A very sensible precaution.

Pete, who is shortly to retire from the Army (The Rifles), kept a watchful eye on young Matt to make sure he wasn’t slacking as the wall progressed, and in return, Matt gave back as good as he got!

Martin found the transition from Dentist to weekend waller a tiring one! I was tired watching him break stone after stone for heartings! (Heartings are the little stones which go into the middle of a dry stone wall).

L to R: Pete, Rob, Louis, Martin, Alan and Matt

All in all they did a smashing job which was difficult for beginners due to the large, heavy and lumpy stone. I was pleased with the standard of the job they had made, as were Helen and Phil on whose walls we were training. So well done to one and all and I look forward to your company on one of our Improvers Courses!

Dry Stone Walling DVD

2008-05-02T05:14:00.000-07:00

Learn how to build a Dry Stone Wall from this DVD - "Dry Stone Walling - The Essential Guide"

The DVD takes you through the history of dry stone walls in Britain, how to build a dry stone wall, advanced features (some of them built by my fellow South Yorkshire DSWA Branch members), walls around Britain and much more. It's £12 plus P&P and you can purchase it on line from our shop

It's one of the best DVD or video that I've seen on dry stone walling!

Dry Stone Walling Course 14-15th June 2008

2008-04-21T06:14:00.000-07:00

This course is now fully booked.

There are places still available at most of our other course dates and locations. Please go to http://www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk/courses/index.php and click on the location on the left side of the screen and available dates will be displayed.

Filming for the BBC's 'Escape to the Country'

2008-04-01T05:50:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know that I did some filming on Good Friday which will be shown on ‘Escape to the Country’ on BBC TV.

The presenter was Alistair Appleton (pictured left) and the idea was to give Graham, who wishes to move house from St Albans to West Yorkshire, some tuition in dry stone walling.

It was a really wild windy day when we filmed it and hence the filming was so intense I didn’t even get the chance to take any photo’s of the occasion! The lack of time really affected the quality of the tuition and although Graham did admirably in the circumstances, if he wants to learn dry stone walling he should come back on a couple of my proper dry stone walling courses.

Anyway, it was nice to meet Graham, Bronwyn, Alistair and the production crew.

Thanks to Richard Elsworth for allowing us to film on his farm and to Barry Heeley for doing Richard a favour by ploughing up his field when he got his van stuck! (Oh! And for making the tea and generating sarcastic comments at regular intervals!)

The program will be shown sometime in the summer on BBC TV.

The First Dry Stone Walling Course of 2008

2008-03-03T07:10:00.000-08:00

The first course of 2008 turned out to be a windy affair, not due to the traditional visit to the Chilli Lodge on the Saturday evening, but to the near gale like conditions which swept through Nabs Wood. The ten hardy souls gathered in the Station Inn to receive the theory and health & safety session; some hoping that Mark would serve them a pint of Tetley’s rather than tea and coffee! If I’d known what the wind was going to be like, I’d have asked Mark to fill my hip flask with his finest malt

It was great to meet our budding wallers, some of whom had travelled from afar as Norwich and Cambridge to join us. We had two ‘Improvers’, Ollie and John who wall professionally and were attending the course to hone their skills.

Barry Heeley from High Hoyland Dry Stone Walls kindly assisted me over the weekend although I noticed after making one round of tea and coffee he delegated that task to me!! Notice Barry trying to impress Jayne with his now famous 'Elephant Man' impression!

We were all so involved in our walling that we didn’t realise the time and take lunch until 14:30!

Saturdays walling ended about 16:30 with about a foot of wall built. As we retired to the pub for a well earned pint and the promise of a great curry at the Chilli Lodge there were smiles on tired faces, pleased with what they has built.

I was awake from 05:00 on the Sunday praying for the wind which was battering the back of my house to die down. It did – at about 13:00 that afternoon!! Boy, what a wind! It was really difficult to light the stove to brew the first cup of tea of the day! But as usual, rubbing two boy scouts together solved the problem and before long we were enjoying a nice cuppa.

The lads who stayed over at Wentworth Castle made us extremely jealous as they recounted the fabulous breakfast they had that morning.

As the winds receded the wall started shooting up and by 16:00 a tired but happy course surveyed their handiwork with pride.

All in all the course built about 10m of wall over the weekend. Ollie and John made a great cheekend and over all the standard of walling was very good. Well done to all involved!

From L to R: John, Barry, John, Ollie, Doug, Damian, Jayne, Stuart, John and Richard

Postscript: This was the scene at 06:45 on Monday 3rd March 2008. The high winds had been replaced with a sprinkling of snow and near zero temperatures. I don't know if I prefer the wind or the snow!!

Les Young on My Yorkshire (YTV) - The Huskar Pit Disaster and the Dry Stone Walls of Nabs Wood

2008-02-20T12:12:00.000-08:00

Names of those who have helped with the walling in Nabs Wood are now in the wall!!

2008-02-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

I promised that all who helped in the renovation of the dry stone walls around Nabs Wood would be mentioned in despatches - or, to be precise, on plaques which will be placed in the walls.

Today, I got round to placing the first batch of plaques in the walls. I can only get 5 plaques engraved at a time which means it's a while before I can credit everyone for their fine work and efforts.

The plaques will also name people or organisations who have helped in me realise my goal in rewalling the wood as a tribute to the children who died in the Huskar Pit Disaster.

Huskar 170

I hope that those of you who are named on the plaques below will be suitably proud of your efforts. I am.

For those of you who are in two minds, come along and join us and learn an ancient craft and build your piece of British heritage which your grandchildren will be able to show to their grandchildren!

Our new online shop

2008-01-30T08:28:00.000-08:00

As the saying goes ‘due to popular demand’ we have opened an internet shop where our course students can pay for courses and also buy dry stone walling goods.

The shop is in its early infancy but at least it’s a start! We will be populating the shop with more tools and clothes in the near future.

If you have any suggestions as to what you would like us to stock please feel free to drop me a line at les@hadriansdrystonewalls.com

The shop can be found here or at http://www.my-emporium.co.uk

*****Stop Press*****

We now have a dry stone walling DVD in stock called 'Dry Stone Walling - The Essential Guide' which covers building dry stone walls, the history of dry stone walls and dry stone wall features and much more. It costs £12 plus P&P.

Nothern College at Wentworth Castle, Barnsley

2007-11-27T04:12:00.000-08:00

I have added this grade I listed building to our accommodation list for our Dry Stone Walling Courses at Silkstone Common. We used this venue for the AGM of the Dry Stone Walling Association and it was fantastic! The staff were brilliant, the location superb (just off jun 37 of the M1) and all set in a British stately home. It's great to have your breakfast in an ornate hall with lovely paintings on the ceiling, and then to look out of the windows of this great house and see the rolling landscaped parkland designed and built by the Fitzwilliam family over two hundred years.

Wentworth Castle is 5 minutes by car from our Dry Stone Walling venue at Nabs Wood Silkstone Common so it couldn't be any better placed.

The gardens are beautiful too. I thoroughly recommend a visit when the rhododendrons and azalea are in flower. Stunning is an understatement!

The accommodation is administered by the Northern College and presently costs £21.50 per person per night for B&B. Mary and her staff leave no stone unturned to make your stay a memorable one.

To book this accommodation call Mary Wilby on 01226 776015 or email her at m.wilby@northern.ac.uk. All details are on our web site.

You can see more of Wentworth Castle in pictures by clicking here.

Course Dates for 2008

2007-10-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

Here are the dates and locations for our Dry Stone Walling Courses during 2008. There will be other courses due to demand (there is currently a waiting list of folk wanting to do a course before March 2008 which we will do when the weather permits at Silkstone Common) so please keep your eye on this site and also at www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk/courses/index.php.

Here we go then:

1/2 March 2008 Beginners and Improvers at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common

5/6 April 2008 Walling for Women at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common

10/11 May 2008 Beginners at Colden near Hebden Bridge

14/15 June 2008 Beginners and Improvers at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common

12/13 July 2008 Beginners and Improvers at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common

21/25 July 2008 Special Features at the Pennine Camphill Community, Wakefield

9/10 August 2008 Beginnersand Improvers at Colden near Hebden Bridge

13/14 September 2008 Beginners and Improvers at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common

11/12 October 2008 Beginners and Improvers at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common

For further details please see our web site or better still call Les Young on +44 (0)7952 551025.

Walling for Women 05-06 April 2008

2007-10-10T04:10:00.000-07:00

The first Walling for Womens Course has been scheduled for 5th and 6th April 2008. The format is exactly the same as a Beginners Course except it's specifically designed for ladies. This will be held at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common.

Cost is £105.75 (£90 + VAT). To book your place on the course please either download an application form or fill in the on line booking form.

If there is the demand for a ladies only course at any of our other locations i.e. Hebden Bridge, Northumberland ot Hawick, we will gladly hold a Walling for Women course at these beautiful locations. Please call Les (07952 551025) or email us at info@hadriansdrystone walls.com and we will put your name on a holding list.

A very different Dry Stone Walling Course!

2007-10-09T03:32:00.002-07:00

Strange how things turn out isn’t it? This course was oversubscribed and by 09:30 on Saturday it was 2 members short! Even so it was a good course with Gareth, Mick, Nick and Johno asking lots of good questions and taking care with their walling – in fact they took too much care and got themselves into a tizzy trying to find that ‘perfect’ stone!

We had a splendid meal at the Chilli Lodge on Saturday night and we were joined by past student Hugo and Barry from High Hoyland Dry Stone Walls. Barry gave the students an alternative insight into walling as a career, the up’s and downs and the difficulty small start up businesses has with the tax man and all the other red tape that is there to trip up today’s entrepreneur.

Sunday was certainly different as we were joined by the TV crew from Yorkshire TV’s My Yorkshire who were filming our course for inclusion in the program. I was worried that the filming would be intrusive and maybe spoil the course but I needn’t have worried on that score. The crew (Mark Stokes (Camera), Terry Meadowcroft (Sound), Ian Clayton (Presenter) and Jane Hickson (Producer)) were great and really nice people so before too long we were one big happy walling family!! To make the course run smoothly with so many folk involved, Barry very kindly gave up his Sunday to give me a hand.

I think all the course, and Barry too, were chuffed to be interviewed by Ian for My Yorkshire. They were that chuffed they didn’t make any sarcy comments when Ian had a go at some walling!

If the care and patience the crew used in filming our course is anything to go by, the TV program should be great!

Thank you to one and all for a great course. It was a pleasure to meet you and I’ll look forward to seeing you on an Improvers Course – including Ian!! A big thanks to Barry for his help and humour!!

The course from L to R: Nick, Santa's large helper Barry, Mick, Jonathan (Johno) and Gareth

The My Yorkshire crew and cast, L to R: Terry, Mark, Jane, Ian, Barry, Mick, Nick, Johno and Gareth

Comments about the course:

" I enjoyed the weekend and had a great sense of achievement when we'd finished the wall"

"This course was a great introduction to the art of Dry Stone Walling. Instructor was excellent. Very friendly atmosphere"

"From a younger persons perspective this course offers a valuable alternative to everyday life. Really interesting and I learned a lot. Thanks!"

"I found this beginners course excellent. It has taught me the basics of Dry Stone Walling which is valuable knowledge and an additional skill. I look forward to future Improvers Courses!"

Post Script: We had the first batch of plaques made with names of those who have contributed to the re-walling of Nabs Wood and the first plaque was placed in the wall at the end of this course. A big thank you to John Walton Engraving who really pulled out the stops to get the plaques engraved and back to me in 5 days and a huge thanks to Dave Steel who made fixings and mounted the plaques ready for fitting.

The Beautiful Dry Stone Walls of Menorca

2007-09-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

Last week I returned for the fourth time to the lovely island of Menorca for a well earned week long holiday, and was I ready for a break! Should have taken two weeks as a week was too short!

I stayed in an apartment in Es Castel just south of Mahon. Linda and John, owners of the apartment made us feel really welcome and are smashing people. They run 'f1rstcall' property management looking after villas and apartments on the island. They're the only folk I've come across who's washing machine is used more than ours!

Out and about we visited old familiar places and some new ones. The fishing harbour of Calas Fons in Es Castel was a great setting for dining out with some great restaurants and bars. All the restaurants we dined in were good, especially Trebol who's fish dishes were superb and staff really helpful and friendly. The only restaurant we had any complaints about was La Capriciosa who's staff were surly and rude. My grilled sea bass was overcooked, vegetables cold and to top it off they overcharged. So if you're heading to Calas Fons I'd avoid that particular establishment.

There were some fantastic examples of Menorcan dry stone walling. Scattered around the island, especially in the north, were little 'huts' and structures made from dry stone and several which had been made with dry stone techniques but were cemented. One of my better finds was a section of wall just off the Cami d'en Kane where there was a lunkey (which is a hole through the wall for sheep to squeeze through into the next field) a stile and some kind of flue all in 5 metres of wall! I wonder if this is the testing centre for the local dry stone walling organisation as it's most unusual to find those kind of features so close together?!

Here are a few examples of the fantastic walls of Menorca. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I did.

Filming 'My Yorkshire' with Ian Clayton

2007-09-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

On Monday I had the pleasure of being filmed by a crew from Yorkshire TV's My Yorkshire hosted and presented by Ian Clayton. The subject, apart from "My" Yorkshire was the renovations I, no we, are carrying out on the dry stone walls of Nabs Wood of which I have written about here before.

It was a great day and very interesting for me and my daughter Laura (who incidentally is responsible for these photographs - stick to the day time job Flower!). The weather was exceptionally kind to us and we had a really enjoyable day! Thanks to Producer Jane, Cameraman Mark, Soundman Terry and Ian for making us feel at ease. I'm sure the program will be even better than I imagine!

I look forward to meeting up with the My Yorkshire team in October when they'll be filming a walling course for inclusion in the program which is due to be screened on YTV in the spring of 2008.

You're going to have to watch the program to see where Ian and myself were going to in the 'space suits'!!

A Special Hadrian's Wall!!

2007-08-30T04:40:00.001-07:00

I was commissioned by David Cross to build a wall at the bottom of his garden to separate a vegetable plot and play area from the main lawn. The garden had been levelled ready for landscaping and David wanted the wall building before the turf and plants were brought on site.

David, being an architect and a director of Coda Studios, wanted something special for his garden. After a couple of site visits to throw some ideas around and to physically mark out our ideas so that we could visualise what the end result would be, David decided on an undulating, curved wall in two sections with a seat built into one section. A doddle eh!!

David had moved 20 tonnes of stone from his front drive to the bottom of the garden so while I pinned out the job I had help from Sam, Andy and Jake to sort the stone into foundation stone, building stone, through stone, cheek end stone, stone for the seat and potential stone for the copestones. This in itself took a great deal of time and was in fact an ongoing process throughout the build.

After 50 man hours the first section of curved undulating wall was built. Now the next challenge
the same again plus a seat! I’d thought long and hard on how to pin this section out and spent a good 3 hours placing pins and running strings between them to visualise the finished job and to make sure the curve and line of the wall and seat flowed.

On this section I had the help of Dom and Declan who had completed their DSWA Level 1 exams at their college under the guidance of Master Craftsman Bill Noble. I’d brought them along to help sort the remaining stone and to act as labourers bringing me the stone I required as I built the wall. I could see they were dying to have a go and put some stone into the wall so under supervision I let them loose on the wall. They did a great job. I was really impressed at their skills and the care they took. A credit to their teacher!

The wall and seat completed it then took me a days work (on my own, everyone seemed to do a runner at this stage – I wonder why?!!) to select cut and shape nearly 200 (cope) stones for the top of the wall. I had arms like Arnie by the time I’d finished!!

What has made the wall for me is the excitement and delight with which it has been received by David and his wife Toni. In fact David got so enthused he built himself a little wall around the plot with the spare stone and considering he hadn’t had any tuition he did a great job of it. (He’d have done better if he’d been on one of my courses!!). When David said to me ‘It’s even better than I imagined! It’s beautiful. I’m delighted.’ then I knew I had done a good job!

A Beginners Dry Stone Walling Course from a students perspective

2007-08-14T03:21:00.000-07:00

Beginners Dry Stone Walling Course 11^th -12^th August 2007, Silkstone Common, South Yorkshire

Instructor : Les Young

Students: Andy Suttie ( this is moi), Alan Bell, John Armitage, Mike Dennis, Ian Garside, Reece Senior

The course started on the Saturday morning, where else but in the local Pub ( The Station Inn). Unfortunately the bar was closed and tea / coffee was all that was available. We started with the some basic theory for approx 1 hour. We then went off to Nabs Wood, a quiet little spot, the sun was shining, it was going to be a beautiful day, in fact it was bloody roasting.

We were to continue a wall started by a previous course. We did, in the end do another 4.5 meters between the 6 of us. We first had to get our stone sorted out, this sounds a bit daft but it really does make life a lot easier when you start to build your wall, largest stones in a row nearest the wall, and then about 4 or 5 more rows with the smallest stones furthest from the wall. This took about 1.5 hours. After lunch we started by preparing the foundations, then used the largest stones for the base. During the course of the day we did the first foot of the wall. Les kept everyone happy by preparing copious amounts of tea. We finished on the Saturday at about 1630, and guess what, yes back to the pub for some light refreshment in the form of Tetley’s, and I don’t mean Teabags. As is normal we then went to the Chilli Lodge Indian Restaurant for some nice food and some more beer........

On Sunday we were back on the job at 0930 to continue the wall. We were lucky with the weather again, although cooler it stayed dry. By lunch time we had the first lift done and the through stones in place. The second lift was complete by about 1500, and by 1600 we had the copestones in place and our part in the great rewall of Nabs Wood done. We then adjourned to the pub for a well earned beer(s) and the certificate presentation.

During the weekend we had a couple of visits from Barry a professional dry stone waller from High Hoyland. I think he only turned up for a brew! We also had a visit from Charlotte from Rotherham Chamber of Commerce, who said she was impressed by the work we had done.

It was a great weekend and a great course, Les really knows his stuff. I would recommend anyone to have a go at Dry Stone Walling, man or woman. It is very relaxing and when the weather is as nice as it was this weekend, it makes it all the more enjoyable. Also I made some new friends, a real nice bunch of guys. At the end of course, you have something to show for your efforts, which will be there for many years to come.

Andy Suttie

Welwyn Garden City

Beginners Course at Silkstone Common 11th and 12th August 2007

2007-08-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

The course gathered at The Station Inn at Silkstone Common on a sunny and warm day for a cup of tea and a steady start to the day. Our students included ex Army and Navy personnel, Telecoms Engineer, Insurance Broker and Driving Instructor to name a few. After an hours introduction and theory session we took leave of the best landlord in South Yorkshire, Mark Grey, and travelled the short distance to our walling site in Nabs Wood.

It wasn't long before the students were wiping their brow due to the exertions of stripping down the wall and sorting out the stone into the seperate component parts i.e. foundation stone, walling stone, throughstones, copestones and heartings. Although this part of the walling process can be quite tedious it's an essential part of the process and fits into my ethos of the 7 P's, which should be well known to all servicemen, which are - Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents Pi** Poor Performance! Witticisms aside, preparation is paramount in marking out and planning your wall before a stone is even laid.

Under the tuition of Les Young the pins were set and the wall started taking shape and despite the efforts of a couple of nosey dogs to derail the course, the wall was at a foot high when we packed in for the day.

It has now become a tradition that on the Saturday evening of the course we all descend on the Chilli Lodge, and excellent Indian restaurant located a few hundred yards from the walling site at Westfield Equestrian Centre - after a couple of well earned pints of Tetley's back at the Station Inn that is!! This course there were 17 poeple at the table!! The company included the current students, past students, parents of past students, professional dry stone wallers, significant other halfs and the lovely Charlotte from Rotherham Chamber of Commerce who had given up her Saturday to report on our walling courses. I'm please to say that the company and meal were excellent as were the Bangla's with which we rinsed it down with!

Sunday was a little cooler with not as much sun but for us working under under the sheltered and shady canopy of Nabs Wood it didn't affect us too much. Before too long we had completed the first lift and placed the throughstones into the wall. The walling carried on in relative silence, a sure sign of concentration and effort, which I think you'll agree turned out to be a splendid piece of walling for the students first try at dry stone walling!!

A big thank you to (from L to R) Andy, Reece, Alan, Mike, John and Ian for their participance, company, wit and repartee!

For information on Hadrian's Dry Stone Walls please click here .

Alternatively you can call Les Young on +44 (0)7952 551025.

Dry Stone Walling Courses

2007-08-08T06:34:00.000-07:00

The Beginners Course at Silkstone Common 11th and 12th August is now fully booked and the Beginners Course at the same location on the 6th and 7th of October is filling fast.

Unfortunately we have had to cancel two courses at Colden, 20th - 24th August and 15th-16th September due to family commitments. We now have a waiting list for budding wallers who want to attend a course at Colden, West Yorkshire which we hope hold on a weekend sometime in the Autumn. Please call Les for details (07952 551025) or email les@hadriansdrystonewalls.com

Courses at our partner dry stone walling training company Border Stonecraft continue to be very popular and have a high demand. Please go to Border Stonecraft to book a place at a course in the Scottish Borders.

Course dates for 2008 are now on our web site www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk.

New for 2008 are our Special features Courses. Already earmarked is an Apiary made from dry stone at a college for young people with special needs near Wakefield. More details are at our Special Features Courses page or you can call Les on 07952 551025 or email at les@hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk

www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk

Filming with John Cravens Countryfile

2007-07-19T05:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting one of the icons of my youth, Mr John Craven of Newsround fame. My dry stone walling course partner Colin Purvis of Border Stonecraft had been approached by the BBC’s Countryfile team to do a TV program on dry stane dyking and Colin’s dry stone walling courses in the Scottish Borders and Colin asked me if I’d give him a hand.

I had no hesitation and agreed to Colin’s request not only for a chance to meet one of the great broadcasters of recent years but for another opportunity to wall in one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland and to meet up again with past students, namely Grant and Ron.

I drove up on the Tuesday night through some of the most torrential rain I’ve experienced, although when I crossed the border it had turned into a lovely evening. I checked in at my usual haunt when in Hawick, Lynwood Cottage where it was great to see proprietors Maggie and David again.

After a great nights sleep in the fantastic surroundings of Lynwood Cottage it was off to meet Colin. We had some time to kill as the other members of the walling gang weren’t due to meet us until 11:00 so we went to Chey Blythe's house to look at a cairn which Colin had built for the famous round the world yachtsman. I think you’ll agree that it’s a fantastic piece of art and dry stone walling. Colin has been commissioned to do another two cairns for Chey Blythe.

We met up with the lads at the walling site and did some preparation before myself, Colin and his good lady Jacqui went to meet the BBC Countryfile team and led them to the walling site.

After brief introductions it was straight into filming. It was easy to see why John is such a great broadcaster. His professionalism was so evident as he introduced the program and super star of

the moment, Colin. As the afternoon progressed everyone relaxed and it turned into a very enjoyable afternoon; good company, good fun and good weather which wasn’t forecast! I thought

Colin and Ron did very well on their first TV appearance being amateurs to stage and screen and I think it’ll be a very good program when it is broadcast in the autumn.

All too soon it was over and after a team photograph it was time to depart. My lasting moment of the day was John Craven taking time to look into Jack (Colin’s son) and Aaron’s (Grants grandson) bucket and discuss the contents with them – frogs and toads – which the young lads, being bored and under awed with the proceedings, had collected from the surrounding fields. There’s not many ‘stars’ who would have had time for those lads, never mind the contents of their bucket!

So thanks to one and all for a great day and Mr Craven it was a pleasure to meet you and well worth the 400 mile round trip!

John Craven’s Country File is broadcast on Sunday mornings at 11:00 on BBC1. I’ll let you know when this particular episode is due for broadcasting.

For more information on our dry stone walling and dry stone walling courses go to

www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk

or call Les Young on 07952 551025

Beginners/Improvers Course at Silkstone Common

2007-07-16T03:05:00.000-07:00

The next Hadrian's Dry Stone Walling Course will take place at Silkstone Common on the 11th and 12th August 2007 - so long as we haven't been washed away by the floods by then! Due to demand we will be running a Beginners and an Improvers course in parallel.

Silkstone Common is situated 5 minutes from junction 37 of the M1 and is also served by a railway station on the Sheffield to Huddersfield line. We are walling in Nabs Wood, which was the scene of the tragic Huskar Pit Disaster where 26 children were drowned, as a tribute and memorial to the children. Everyone who helps with this renovation will have their name displayed on a plaque on the section of wall which they have helped to re-build. You can read more about the Huskar Pit Disaster on this blog site:

http://hadriansdsw.blogspot.com/2007/06/terrible-tradgedy-at-nabs-wood.html

Please refer to our web site (presently undergoing a major makeover!!) for applications forms, terms and conditions, costs and accommodation details

http://www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk

Or contact Les Young on 07952 551025

Attention the British Armed Forces!

2007-06-19T06:53:00.001-07:00

Members of the British Armed Forces could be eligible to attend our courses as part of their resettlement package. I am ex Royal and Gurkha Signals myself and I have first hand experience of the difficulties that our armed forces have to go through when their time to leave the Navy, Army or Royal Air Force arrives.

I'm very pleased to say that we have had the pleasure of welcoming serving members of our Armed Forces on our courses, and we look forward to welcoming many more! You should find brochures describing our courses, with course dates, in your Education Centre or Resettlement Centre - if not then contact us and we'll be only too pleased to send you a brochure.

The ancient craft of Dry Stone Walling can be an occupation in itself or can be combined with occupations such as construction or lanscaping or it can be a relaxing hobby! Not only are our walling courses a good way of meeting people from other walks of life, they are also very theraputic, an excellent way to calm stretched nerves, with the end result giving a positive sense of achievement.

For more information check our web site

http://www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk/training.htm

or call Les on 07952 551025.

Terrible Tradgedy at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common

2007-06-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

I'm not apologising for re-posting this blog which first appeared on this site in January (it was written for the Woodland Trust web site) for this is the main reason for holding Dry Stone Walling Courses at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common i.e. my quest to rewall the whole of the perimeter of the woods as a tribute to the children who died in the Huskar Pit Disaster of 1838.

If you would like to contribute to the rewalling of Nabs Wood then come and join us on a course. Pictures and narratives on the courses can be found further down in this blog site.

Here's a photo of one section of wall which we are working on at the moment.

Course dates at Nabs Wood are:

14/15 July 2007
11/12 August 2007
6/7 October 2008
27/28 October 2007 (hedge laying and walling weekend)

If you would like to join us at Nabs Wood, Silkstone Common please fill in the on line booking form at http://www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk/bookingform.htm or call Les on 07952 551025 for further details.

www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk

Terrible Tragedy at Nabs Wood

On a bleak day in June 1838 Nabs Wood was about to be written into history books as a tragic chain of events unfolded. In the village of nearby Silkstone Common black smoke rose from the engine powering the winch to the Huskar Pit where many of the local men, women and children worked at least 12 hour stints in the hot, damp and acrid coal seams which ran below the village. Early in the afternoon a storm broke out starting with a rainstorm making a hissing sound as it landed on the engine and then turning into a torrent of rain and hail up to 4 ½ inches in diameter.

The deluge caused havoc flattening crops, smashing windows and dousing the fire fuelling the engine to the winch. Disquiet broke out underground when the miners found that they were without a winch to haul their corves of coal to the surface in exchange for a token from the mine owner which could be converted to goods in the mine owners ‘Tommy shop’. Panic started setting in, especially in the children when they found out that their main way out of the mine via the winch was closed to them.

A group of the children had a bright idea. They would head through the mine for the day hole, a drift entrance to the mine in Nabs Wood. They hurried through the pitch-blackness relying on their base instincts and local knowledge to navigate their way through the rough passages. They went through doors in the passages, usually operated by the escaping children which provided ventilation to the mine. They passed through the final door on their escape, catching a glimpse of light from the entrance ahead of them. At their feet a stream of water flowed past them. They hurried on. They looked up to see a wall of water rushing down the shaft caused by a storm ditch next to the drift entrance bursting its banks due to the sheer volume of rainwater gushing down it. The children turned and ran back down the drift but as they ran they were swept away by the torrent and slammed against the ventilation door the sheer volume of water pinning them to it.

Twenty-six children aged seven to seventeen drowned. The villagers were distraught and in an age when mining accidents were common, this tragedy made the London broadsheets. The newly enthroned Queen Victoria was shocked and the government of the day set up an enquiry, not specifically into the Huskar Pit Disaster but to working conditions in Britain’s factories and mines. This enquiry was chaired by Lord Ashley (later to become Lord Shaftsbury), well known for his emancipated views. In 1842 this enquiry led to the 1842 Factory Act which was the first piece of legislation relating to working conditions in Britain.

Nabs Wood today is owned by the Woodland Trust. The only visible sign of the terrible disaster which took place under its leafy mantle is a monument erected by Silkstone Parish on the 150^th anniversary of the disaster. Much of the woods are as they were 168 years ago – except that the dry stone walls which form the boundary to the woods are in a serious state of disrepair.

Local dry stone waller Les Young volunteered his services to the Trust to repair or rebuild the boundary walls as a tribute to the children who died and to return the walls to their former glory as a living memorial to their memory. After surveys and risk assessments it became apparent that not only would it take an awful lot of time and manpower to complete the project, but it would also be expensive due to the amount of stone needed to rebuild the walls.

Les approached the local landowners who have a vested interest in renovating the perimeter walls to keep their livestock enclosed. He proposed that he hold dry stone walling courses to rebuild the walls thereby speeding up the rebuilding and teaching novices an ancient craft at the same time. The owner of Westfield Park which shares part of the perimeter walls of Nabs Wood embraced this project, and in fact has kindly promised to donate stone to rebuild part of the walls.

The dry stone walling courses will be run from Westfield Park using it’s excellent facilities. The courses are graded as Beginners or Improvers courses and are either a weekend or a week long in duration. If you would like to be part of one of Les’s courses and have the opportunity to rebuild the walls surrounding one of the Trusts woods, help preserve a piece of Britain’s history and learn an ancient craft at the same time then please contact Les at Hadrian’s Dry Stone Walls, whose contact details can be found at or the bottom of this article or at www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk where more details about the course can be found.

For further reading on the Huskar Pit Disaster read The Children of the Dark by Allan Gallop, ISBN 0-7509-3094-2 which is an excellent book.

Post Script by Les Young

Today I have witnessed how this disaster occurred. Over the past week we have had fierce storms with high winds and lashing rain culminating in a corker of a storm last night. This morning Nabs wood resembled a swamp with fallen trees and streams filled to bursting. After climbing over two fallen trees I eventually reached the day hole. The day hole was filled in many years ago and earth piled some 6 metres away from the entrance to form a dyke to protect the day hole from the stream. Normally the stream is a trickle and does not encroach on the dyke. Today there was a foot of water in the ‘crater’ at the entrance to the day hole and on the other side of the protective dyke the water was about 3 foot deep. I now have a clear picture of this volume of water breaching the dyke and crashing down on the day hole. Devastating.

Contact details:

Les Young

07952 551025

email: les@hadriansdrystonewalls.com

Web site: www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk

Silkstone Common Course 19th and 20th May 2007

2007-05-22T03:48:00.000-07:00

After an initial 'classroom' session at the Station Inn we were soon hard at it. We continued the wall started by the last course.

Apart from struggling to find large stones suitable for foundation stones the wall was soon under construction.

Like other courses it wasn't long before the lads on the course were laughing and joking.

Richard looks for inspiration from the 'great coat in the sky'

Distinguished visitors Barry and Chris Heeley from High Hoyland Dry Stone walls dropped in to see how Ben was getting on. And what a co-incidence that we might be going to the Chilli Lodge for a curry after we'd finshed for the day!!

It was a lovely meal and a good laugh.

Day two starts with Hugo joining us to complete his initial training.

The lads admire their handicraft as the course nears its end. A nice piece of walling.

Thank you to Richard, Hugo, Ben and David for their company, wit and repartee over the weekend.

Beginners Course at Colden near Hebden Bridge May 2007

2007-05-14T05:20:00.000-07:00

I'd been looking forward to holding this course for some time in the beautiful Colden Valley who's scenery is simply stunning.

We had two late cancellations which left us with a very good pupil to teacher ratio of 2:1!

Saturday started cloudy as Steve and Shaun arrived at Riverdene House for the introduction and theoretical session which we always start our courses with.

Before too long we were out on the hill side stripping down a wall belonging to Phil and Helen Speak, two lovely people. As we started to strip out the wall, which was semi demolished, I began to realise that this wasn't just any run of the mill wall, and a faint sensation of panic started to creep in! Not only was the stone in the wall very big, but when we reached the bottom of the wall I began to realise that the foundations were 3 feet (nearly 1 metre) wide and the wall 4 foot from foundations to wall height or 5 feet to the top of the copestones.

I just had enough length on the A frame pole to make it to wall height. Next time I'll have to bring ranging rods or something similar to make sure that there's plenty of height available on the A frames.

As with most courses it wasn't long at all until Stave and Shaun were working well together and enjoying some good conversation and banter. But who couldn't in surroundings such as these?

Foundation stones in, Shaun looks for his next piece of stone.

The New Delight Inn is centre background in this photo, with Riverdene House roof just visible above the wall. Two great places! I enjoyed 5 different real ales over the weekend and some great food at the pub.

Treasure trove! Shaun found this kestrels skull when stripping the wall down. It's amazing what you can find in a wall!

Day one ended on a high with both students saying how much they had enjoyed their day. We left the wall and headed on down the hill to the New Delight for a couple of well earned pints before going our separate ways.

My separate way took me to Theo's Cypriot/Greek restaurant in Hebden Bridge. I've been there before so I was eagerly awaiting this gastronomic delight, and I wasn't to be disappointed! I had dolmades followed by lamb kleftico which I couldn't finish. It was absolutely delicious! So thank you to Theo's chefs and their staff for a wonderful experience.

Sunday started out sunny and very warm despite the weather forecast for heavy and persistant rain. We were all amazed at how red we were from the sun and wind on Saturday.

The lads were now starting to get their eye in and the wall was making good progress, all things considered.

Just as we were finishing off the rain started - spits and spots to start with but by the time we had cleared up the site and were heading for the pub it was lashing down. Perfect timing!

Thank you Shaun and Steve for your company over the weekend. You did a great job on your first wall!

Thank you to John and Ann at Riverdene house for their hospitality and great breakfasts, to Phil and Helen for their help and co-operation and to the management and staff at the New Delight Inn for a welcoming atmosphere and some great beer!

See you all when we hold the the next course at Colden on 23rd and 24th June.

Steve and Shaun. Great lads!

Comments from the students:

"The course was everything I expected. A very enjoyable weekend. An excellent course. Thank you!"

"The small group size was good and a great venue for holding the course"

The Gathering Swarm!

2007-05-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

After two days the swarm was still in the hedge although about 1/6th of it's original numbers. They must have got fed up of being manhandled and gone off to some quieter spot! Head gardner Jessica was by this time having trouble defending our corner with the rest of the community who were rightly worried that someone could get stung. Thankfully their trust in us to find a solution held and early on Wednesday morning I put 'plan P' into action, which had sprung to mind during a sleepless night.

I had decided to put a very sexy box which the kettle for our walling courses came in over the swarm and then pray that the little lovelies would crawl up into it. Later that evening after meeting Alice and Felix we went to see what had happened. All was quiet - no buzzing! They had moved into the kettle box. What was wrong with alternate choice of the a spacious brood box place in front of the swarm is beyond me! Anyway, all's well that ends well.

Alice was very brave throughout this 'crisis'. While Felix watched the snooker championship in Sheffield, Alice had 6,000 angry bees buzzing about her person! She has been a big help to me. Thanks also to Ivor, master bee keeper, for listening and throwing ideas my way; to Jessica for her arbitratory skills; Felix for watching the snooker; Alice for her invaluable help and the good folk of the Pennine Community for keeping faith.

My superstar bee keepers - Alice from New York, USA and Felix from Heidelberg, Germany

Calling all Bee Keepers - HELP!!!!

2007-05-02T01:26:00.000-07:00

I have a swarm of bees which have settled on the ground under a 2 meter wide holly hedge. They're showing no sign of moving and despite several attempts (and several stings!) to coax and cajole them into a brood box. Has anyone got any ideas on how to capture them as they're on the premises of a school for young folks with learning difficulties and I'm frightened that one or more of them may get stung? As I said they're actually on the ground so it's really difficult to gather or scoop them into the box.

It's ironic that the swarm hasn't come from my hive! I suspect it's a wild colony which was living in a tree trunk about 200m from where the swarm is sitting right now.

Your help is much appreciated!

les@hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk

Dry Stone Walling Beginners Course at Colden, Hebden Bridge, W Yorks

2007-04-28T10:54:00.000-07:00

Today I had the pleasure of doing a reconnaissance trip to the Colden walling site prior to our course on the 12th and 13th May2007.

I popped into Hebden Bridge before I wended my way up the hill to Colden to thank the ladies in the Tourist Information Office for displaying our brochures and being so positive about our courses. A big thank you to Patricia and her team.

Hebden Bridge was basking in spring sunshine with folk sitting outside the cafes and pub's chatting with friends while the street musicians entertained them with classical guitar music. Wonderful! What made the experience even better was a pint of my favourite ale, Deuchars IPA in the Shoulder of Mutton! Just look at these photographs - how idyllic is this?

Onto Colden (approx 3 miles north west of Hebden Bridge) and meeting up with the lovely John and Ann at Riverdene House. It's always a pleasure to meet up with them to catch up with their news. The course will meet at Riverdene House where we will hold the introductions and theory session before we move off and start our walling course.

If the weather is as good as this we'd better pack the sun block!

This is the actual wall which we will be repairing

Two very important places as seen from the walling site - Riverdene House, where we stay and where the course convenes on Saturday morning, and the New Delight Inn, where we gather at any opportunity and talk walls (and other things!).

If you would to come with us on this course and work in these beautiful surroundings there are two spare places available - a completed application form and the course fee books your place!! You can book on line at http://www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk/colden.htm or by calling Les on 07952 551025.

I am so looking forward to this course! Hope to see you there!

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

2007-04-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

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!"

2008 Special Project

2007-04-16T02:51:00.000-07:00

The special project for 2008 will be to build an Apiary using dry stone walling techniques.

The project will extend and test the skills of those who have previously attended our Beginners Course and preferably those who have attended at least one Improvers Course.

I keep my bees at the Pennine Camphill Community (http://www.pennine.org.uk/) near Wakefield which is a residential college for young people with special needs. These young people improve their lives by learning crafts, caring for the gardens and interacting with each other and the staff. The bees are an integral part of the community pollentating the flowers, fruit and vegtables grown by the students. Two members of staff, Alice and Felix, help me take care of the bees and hopefully some of the students will be able to help too.

Alice and Felix

I am currently working to increase the number of colonies at the Community year on year so that eventually there is a constant flow of honey being produced. My aim is to provide a home for these colonies and to provide a focal point for the Community by building the dry stone apiary. Originally I was going to build it myself but because it will use several different walling techniques to build, it will suit those past dry stone walling students so that they can learn new skills.

The course will take place in July or August 2008 and will be a week long in duration. There will be a maximum of 6 students on the course and, as mentioned previously, applicants will have had to have completed at least a Beginners Course and preferrably an Improvers Course.

What links Kate Rusby and Andy Goldsworthy?

2007-04-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

Well, what does link these two very talented artists?

Dry Stone Walls of course - what else!!

I was asked to make a guest appearance by my friends Barry and Chris Heeley of High Hoyland Dry Stone Walling to help them with a wall they had been commissioned to repair at Kate Rusby's house. I willingly accepted the invitation as Barry and Chris are great lads who will do anything for you (well almost!) and that combined with the chance of having a chat to the wonderful Kate Rusby was too much temptation. When I got to site, Barry, Chris and Ben had erected about half the height of the repair using stone stripped from the wall and some stone provided by Kate's Dad, Steve, who makes a smashing cup of tea! Walling was a bit awkward as one side of the wall was mostly retained, and on the other side, there was a huge horse trough right in front of the wall which the lads had spanned with a couple of scaffolding planks. Did these prevent me from taking an early bath? No! Contrary to what I preach at my courses, where I drum it into the students never to step backwards away from the wall in case they trip over on stone, I stepped backwards to look at a stone I had put into the wall and ended up to the knees in water! Of course this caused HUGE jocularity with Barry, Chris and Ben as they are p*** takers extraordinaire! So I thought that I'd announce my little faux pas here before they embellish the story to one and all. Goodness knows what ribbing I'm in for at the Cheery Tree Inn on my next visit! I can see the pub regulars now, sitting on their bar stools with huge grins on their faces eagerly awaiting my entrance to launch a volley of wit and repartee in my direction, which they'll have been no doubt rehearsing all weekend! I must admit I had to laugh myself at the time and no doubt the mickey taking when it inevitably happens will be as funny!

For those of you who have not heard Kate's music you are missing a treat. Not only is she a very bonny lass but she has the voice of an angel. I've seen Kate several times and she and her band were fantastic each time. I'd recommend you to go and see her on her latest tour. You can get her CD's and current tour dates at http://www.katerusby.com/

On Sunday I visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park just off junction 38 of the M1. Again it's another place that is a must to visit.

It was originally an 18th century country mansion house and has 500 acres of parkland which is home to many stunning sculptures and works of art. Andy Goldsworthy has an exhibition of his art to mark the 30th anniversary of the YSP and some of this involves dry stone walling. Andy's walling is first class and combined with his artistry, the results are fantastic. I forgot to take my camera but I'll be back to YSP soon and I'll place more photo's of Andys work here. In the meantime details of Andy's exhibition and the YSP can be found here - http://www.ysp.co.uk/

Monday found me and my family on the tourist trail in the Derbyshire Dales and after negotiating the horendous traffic at Bakewell we reached our destination of Haddon Hall, the beautiful home of Lord and Lady Edward Manners. It's the first time that I've visited Haddon Hall and I was very impressed with the staff who were very pleasant and only too keen to help and inform - a big thank you to them for making our visit so pleasant. It was amazing to see the worn flags and thresholds where thousands of feet had trodden over the centuries leaving them bowed and indented. Who had graced these portals in days gone bye? What were their lives like? What were they doing? All these thoughts and more were spinning around in my head as I toured the Hall, amazed with it's splendour.

If you're in the Bakewell area then it's well worth a visit. You can find out more information at http://www.haddonhall.co.uk/

Dry Stone Walling Course at Hawick, 10th and 11th March 2007

2007-03-13T03:33:00.000-07:00

It was a dull and windy start to the mixed Beginners and Improvers Course in the beautiful surroundings of the Scottish Borders. We were here to assist Colin Purvis of Border Stonecraft (www.borderstonecraft.co.uk) to deliver the course.

Anne and Dylan (and later Jack) formed the beginners contingent, while Aaron, Grant, John, Ron, June and Alastair were returning for further training

It wasn't long before the poor weather was forgotten and everyone was concentrating hard on the task in hand.

Here we can see two smashing lads, Grant and Ron, pondering about their cheek end and their choice of stone. Not an easy selection where the availability of good stone for building a cheek end is limited. Grant's standard ofwalling amazes me as he only has one hand. He must enjoy it too as he has told Colin he'll be returning on the week long course in July. So if you want a place on the week long Improvers Course in Hawick (16th-20th July) you'd better call 'tout de suite' to Colin or Jacqui on 01450 370290 or Les on 07952 551025!

As I've explained before, the stone around Hawick is much different to the flat bedded sedimentary stone found in South Yorkshire. It's much smaller and harder making construction much like doing a 3D jigsaw. Experts like Colin make walling with this stone look easy and the end result (when it's built properly) looks wonderful. A good waller should be able to wall with all types of stone as the basic techniques are the same but local methods are essential to construct a wall in the traditional style of the area.

After playing rugby on Saturday morning, Colin's 9 year old son Jack had pleaded with his Dad to let him come and lend a hand. From what I saw of his work he's going to be a better dyker than his Dad someday! (Thats after he's finished his Scotland rugby career!)

Here we are at the end of day one. Thankfully the rain had held off and we get to thoughstone height (the first lift) before calling it a day. Because of the shortage of long stones to act as throughstones, we used a technique of using two of the longest stones available and overlapping them in consecutive layers to give the wall the strength it needs to support several tonnes of stone.

Ron and Anne can be seen here discussing the day, or maybe his last dinner at Annes beautiful hotel at Kelso which is about 30 minutes from the Hawick walling sites. Anne originates from Paris and after admiring the miles of walls around her home, she decided to learn how they are built. She made an excellent job and has a very good eye for stone choice. You can find out more about Annes family run hotel at www.ednamhouse.com. I'm hoping to stay there sometime - so you're forewarned Anne!

After a long day, taking in the last 30 minutes of the Italy v Wales game at the Balmoral in Hawick, it was off to Colin's house for some more wonderful hospitality. Jacqui cooked another wonderful meal and I had a splendid evening in their company. Colin you're a lucky man!

I eventually left the Purvis household in peace and headed back to the best B&B I've ever stayed in. It's called Lynnwood Cottage and more details can be found at http://www.lynnwoodcottage.co.uk/

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned Lynnwood before

on this site, but there's not many B&B's where you have your own suite to relax in and, in the morning, take your breakfast. So thank you to Maggie and David for another lovely stay.

Day two began with rain threatening. June and Alastair had completed their cheek end so they helped out on the main wall.

Here's Alastair tidying up their walling site. I think you'll agree they did a grand job on this cheekend. Colin says that this and the other cheekends we rebuit this weekend have been in ruin for 20 years that he can remember, so Willie, who's land we wall on, must be a happy man that his walls are made whole again!

Here's man mountain (Colin) himself humping large pieces of stone around to give the students some decent copestones on which to practice their skills.

The rain started not long after we did and persisted until we stopped! How's that for an uncanny coincidence!!

We suspected that Aaron and John had formed their own Knitting Circle as they spent a lot of time chatting! Joking aside, it was nice to see two students get on so well together, and help each other out.

June and Alastair wasted no time and got stuck into building the wall in the driving rain.

The knitting circle continued!

Nearly time for the copestones. There was a lot of hammering going on at this stage making small heartings to fill the gaps in the centre of the wall and form a good bed on which to lay the copestones.

Knitting Circle over, John decides to hold up the wall while Aaron looks for a suitable stone!

And here's one young man who's destined for a very long bath when he gets home!

The completed article! There's a few minor faults in the wall but that's to be expected. On the whole a very good job considering the experience of the wallers.

Once again it was with mixed emotions that I headed back down the A7 away from the land of my father. I was looking forward to seeing my family after being away for the weekend but I was sorry to be leaving behind the folk I met on the course and of course Colin, Jacqui and family. However, what was left behind were walls which had been properly stripped down and repaired, and they'll be standing there for another 200 years before they're in need of any more maintenence - and that gives me a nice warm feeling!

Postcript:

I received a very nice email from Anne on completetion of the course. It's nice to know that the course has been good and appreciated:

Dear Les,

Thank you for the great week-end; I was on a high after we finished on Sunday- What an achievment. So on Monday morning, I headed straight for the house to look at one bit of wall that needs fixing - Well, the stone is really different, no small stone there- mainly big chunky boulder type- So I think I will look at that wall for a while and think before I actually do anything-

In any case the course was really well worth it and I am hoping I can come along to a few others-

The blog is looking fab and I have emailed my friends so they can have a look -

See you soon I hope

Anne

Beginners and Improvers Course at Hawick 10th and 11th March 2007

2007-02-27T02:57:00.000-08:00

Our next course dates are 10th and 11th March at Hawick, in the beautiful Scottish Borders, where we will be holding a Beginners Course and an Improvers Course in parallel.

The course costs £90 + VAT (£105.75). For more information call Colin or Jacqui on 01450 370290 or check Border Stonecraft's web site at:

http://www.borderstonecraft.co.uk/training.htm

or our own at:

http://www.hadriansdrystonewalls.co.uk/training.htm

We look forward to seeing you there!

Oh! A quick reminder that there are places available on our Conserving Natural Boundaries Course which is being held at Silkstone Common (just off Junc 37 of the M1) on 24th and 25th March 2007. The CNB Course comprises of Dry Stone Walling and Hedge Laying during the same weekend. A unique opportunity to learn the basics of two ancient crafts.