Weekend walling course
28 May 2008
By Michael Lindner
On the third weekend in May 2008, I took part in a “Dry Stone Walling” course in Clandeboye, run by Conservation Volunteers. The main focus of the course was the practical repair/creation of a wall using Northern Ireland’s traditional methods.
This two-day course started with a classroom activity looking at different walls and our trainer, John, used pictures to point out the difficulties and building techniques a waller needs to recognise.
The most important thing when working with stone is patience. Your results will depend upon the feeling you have for this material. Besides this, basic knowledge of techniques, preparation, safety and equipment were other important aspects covered.
After the theory, supported by pictures, flipchart and models, the group travelled to an old stone wall deep in the woodlands of Clandeboye. The task for the rest of the first day was to dismantle a short part of the existing wall and to sort all the stones into different sizes.
We laid the biggest ones close to the wall (leaving room the rebuid the wall!) and the smaller ones gradually further away. Done this way, you have a good overview of all available stones for the new section of wall.
On the second day we began using our sorted stones and created the first and most important row of the new wall. Stability and aesthetics depend on the time you take for the foundation. John helped each member with advice and, despite the fact that we didn’t finish our new wall, all the participants appeared to have a lot of fun and gained an appreciation of how difficult this once commonly practised skill really is!
| Relevant links |
|---|
| Other Conservation Volunteers training courses |