Finished the 2 day dry stone walling course arranged by Stroud Valleys Projects yesterday. It's the 2nd course I've done with them - the first was scything - and they run numerous courses in traditional country crafts.
The course cost me £150 and was money well spent. I feel confident enough to tackle most local dry stone walls and Hay has me lined up for constructing a stepped amphitheatre in the back yard, like the one we saw last weekend at The Cotswold Sculpture park.
There are qualifications you can obtain in the art, which made me wonder why? However, whereas 100 years ago dry stone wallers were plentiful in the countryside and if you wanted a wall repaired, or a totally new one, the chances were that you knew a local who did nothing but that and his work was visible all round the area. These days, with practitioners being rarer, you need to convince yourself that whoever you're contracting is competent, meaning a recognised qualification is the only real option.
We placed 10p pieces in the wall for the next repairer to find, probably in another 100 years time. Had I known we were going to do this, I'd have made a small time capsule from a cigar tube.
Played havoc with my back, but it's perhaps the impetus I need to get back into an exercise regime.
I really want to do a flint knapping course now.
1 comment:
Bad news modern 10p coins have an iron core and will corrode from the inside out if they get wet
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