Dry Stone Walling Course 14-15th June 2008

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'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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!!

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!