We returned to Wooplaw on the first weekend of July (see previous post) to complete the work we started last month, and to address another bit of collapsed wall. There were five of us there, so we split into two groups: the first group went to finish the work we'd started the month before, while the rest of us tackled another collapsed section where there had been a large tree near the wall which had come down in a storm - apparently, even before it came down, you could see the wall being moved by its roots in strong winds ...

As with a lot of the walls at Wooplaw (and indeed, a lot of old walls everywhere) you just have to take a call as to how much you're going to take down and rebuild, as pretty much the whole wall could do with some attention. We decided on a section about four or five meters long, where the wall downhill at least was in pretty good nick, giving us a decent starting point. It looked like the stone had been coming off for some time: on one side there was a path, which was fairly clear, but on the other side there was a lot of stone, some of it buried quite deeply. There was also a ditch covered by undergrowth, which though thick enough to obscure the ditch completely wasn't strong enough to support the weight of someone stepping on it, as I can personally attest. The advantage of this experience was that at least it made me cautious about taking stone off on this side - I think we only lost one stone submerged in the ditch (though my guess would be that there was plenty more in there, including quite a few of the copes).

After lunch the first section was complete. A couple of us had to leave, but the rest of us worked on on the other section, and by mid afternoon when the rain started in earnest we'd got it up just about to sub-cope height. 

Last weekend we held our annual dry stone walling demonstration at the Haddington Agricultural Show. Unusually, this year the pile of stone had been put inside the tent ...

In some ways this was an advantage (when we arrived it was raining, and in the past we've had some fun at agricultural shows chasing after our leaflets as they blew off in the wind) but in others it wasn't so good (the rain cleared up pretty quickly, and the fact that we were indoors meant we were less visible to the public). We thought about moving the stone outside, but it had been put well back in the tent, so we decided to build the wall just inside the tent entrance.

The stone was a bit easier to work with than previous years' - red sandstone mostly, quite soft and easy to work.

As usual, we had some 'junior' helpers ...

And the final product (additional 'mini copes' added by our enthusiastic youngsters).

Thanks to Sam and Gail for the photos!

Last weekend we returned to Wooplaw Community Woodland, to repair some of the walls there. We've been here many times (see previous blog posts), but not for a while. I was pleased to see that the dry stone bridge was still standing.

The low side walls of the bridge are actually built on flattened logs, and it was these that I was worried would have rotted over the decade or so that they've been there. However, they were in pretty good shape, presumably because even though they'll get wet, they're high enough above the usual water level to dry out again each time. There was no water at all in the ditch on this occasion.

It was decided that it would be easier just to bridge the gap with a lintel rather than attempting to rebuild the arch, so we set about finding suitable long stones for the job. There were only a few stones a couple of feet long in the stone pile near the wall, which didn't seem long enough to me, and as I knew there was a big stone pile in the next field a few of us set off to see if there was anything better there. And so it turned out there was - a big lump of stone about three feet long.

It took four of us some effort - and time - to carry it back, and when we arrived we found that the others had just made do with the stones they had.

Having seen what it gets like when there's been a lot of rain, the resulting gap seems a bit small to me, but we'll see how it does. There's a lot of stone above it, so hopefully it'll stay up even if the water backs up a bit.

The big stone didn't got to waste: there was another repair required a few yards further down the wall, and it was incorporated into that.

Another feature we'd previously built at Wooplaw was a three-pronged seat, designed with the idea of providing shelter from the wind no matter which direction it was coming from. In actual fact, the seat backs aren't really high enough to provide much shelter, but it makes for an original design at least. It was still standing, but some of it had obviously come down and been put up again by hands perhaps more enthusiastic than experienced.

We tidied it up a bit, but it really needs some proper attention on a future visit.

The forecast had been for heavy showers, but for the morning it stayed dry. At lunchtime the rain started, so we repaired to the cabin for lunch. And miraculously after lunch the rain stopped again, so we sallied forth to effect some repairs to the walls near the cabin.

Mid afternoon the rain started again and very quickly became heavy, so we abandoned work at about 3 pm.

We'll be back next month, so further updates then. Thanks to everyone who came along, and to Karen and Stephen from Wooplaw for organising the visit.

Last weekend we held another training course, at Merryhill in Fife. Seven trainees (including one from Philadelphia) one instructor and his dog (called Barra) built two dykes, and none of the forecast deluge arrived.

The dog approved the build ...

Thanks to Bruce for bringing the dog and providing the photos, and of course for once again providing the training.

Last weekend saw our first project of 2025, a dry stone* seat on the Cramond foreshore, for the Crammond Association Woodland Group.
They'd arranged for 3 tons of Denfind stone, plus copes plus slabs for the seat area, to be delivered, and had cleared and levelled the chosen spot for us (they also provided us with tea, coffee and hot chocolate and a big box of Quality Street, the lovely people).

* Well, dry-ish. Because it's in a public space, and because people will be sitting on it (and most likely, children will be climbing on it) we discretely mortared anything that wasn't built in beyond any chance of coming out again.

The stone had been dropped a short distance from the build site, so while the guide rods and strings were being set up the rest of us got to work moving the stone up.

​Denfind stone is generally quite square with level layers, so it looks like it should split easily - and sometimes it does. However, sometimes it splits too easily - here I am trying to knock a small lump off the side of a stone:

And here's what happened.

Once we'd got the foundation in right the next few courses went up quite quickly. However, we soon discovered there had been a mix up with the slabs - rather than three 600 x 500 mm slabs, we had one 300 x 300 and one 300 x 500. There would have been enough other flat stone to make a patchwork job of the seat area, but that wasn't what the Woodland Group wanted (or, indeed, had paid for) so the decision was taken to leave the seat slabs for another day, when the correct stone had been delivered. By mid afternoon we'd got it up to sub-slab level, and we decided to call it a day.​

On Sunday we started on the back and arms of the chair. It's basically a big stone sofa, really.

I feel it's important to test your work as you go along ...

By the end of the day we'd got the copes on the back, and were as close to finished as we could be without the seat slabs.

Thanks to the Cramond Association Woodland Group for having us and for looking after us so well.

We'll be back at some point to finish the seat off.

Last weekend we had another beginners' training course, at the Scottish Lime Centre in Merryhill, Fife. The course was initially sold out, but a couple of participants had to pull out at the last minute. However, those that remained did a sterling job of rebuilding the training wall, and all feedback received has been very positive.

Thanks to Richard and Stevie for running the course, and to Stevie for the photos.

Last Saturday we did our annual demonstration of dry stone walling at the Haddington Agricultural Show. There were fewer of us there than usual this year, but the quality of the stone provided had been improved, and we managed to build the usual size of demo wall (with, as ever, some help from budding junior dykers). Thanks to Sam for the photos.

We'll be doing a similar demo at the Peebles show on the 17th of August, if you missed this one!

Update from Richard, 13th July:

Dave, Stevie and I completed the end of the wall started the previous month. As before we were assisted, fed and watered by members of the village community and managed to finish early afternoon. I’m not sure if there will be any further stone structures required, such as a seat, so we’ll wait and see. As far as we can tell, the wall has met with universal praise from the residents, which is very pleasing.

Last weekend saw the first of this year's beginner's training courses, held at the Scottish Lime Centre in Fife. They had great weather - looks like they've done a great job, and all feedback so far has been positive. Thanks to everyone who came along and to Richard and Stevie for leading the course, and additional thanks to Stevie for the photos.

We've got two more courses this year, both in September - the first of these is fully booked, but there is still space available for the course on 28th/29th. Use the form on the Get in Touch page if you're interested in coming along!

Last weekend a few of our members went to Penicuik House, a few miles south of Edinburgh, to repair one of their retaining walls. I'm assured it was a good day out, and the wall repair looks good.

Thanks to Kenny for the photo!