Walling competition on the 24th September
Joint branches walling weekend at Threave
BBC article about walling
24 December, 2020 - updated 20 January, 2021
The BBC have interviewed our chairman, Richard Love, for an article about dry stone walling - check it out here. And following on from this article, Richard and recently-qualified waller Martin Tyler have been interviewed by Kaye Adams on Radio Scotland's Mornings show - check it out here (their bit starts at about 1:42:50).
The BBC have interviewed our chairman, Richard Love, for an article about dry stone walling - check it out here. And following on from this article, Richard and recently-qualified waller Martin Tyler have been interviewed by Kaye Adams on Radio Scotland's Mornings show - check it out here (their bit starts at about 1:42:50).
Bad news
13th February, 2020
It seems our government doesn't understand that the fact that only a few people want to learn something is a reason to promote it, not a reason to kill it off completely. www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-51478827
It seems our government doesn't understand that the fact that only a few people want to learn something is a reason to promote it, not a reason to kill it off completely. www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-51478827
Walling at Penicuik House
15th March, 2017
Update 28th March, 2017: another date added - Saturday 1st April, details as below.
For anyone interested in getting some dyking practice in, there is an opportunity to volunteer
at Penicuik House Estate on Saturday the 18th of March, when work is being done on a haha (revetment). Meet at the estate office at 10 am. If arriving later the site is easily found as
it is less than 100m away at the far (south west) side of the house.
To get to the site on public transport, LRT bus numbers 15 and 37 will take you to northwestern end of Bog Road, from whence the estate is accessed by turning left onto the A766 and then left through the Lodge gates and along the path to the office in the main building (not in the stables, which are now a private home). If driving, proceed further along the A766 before turning into the car park and taking the path to the office.
Volunteers will be covered by the estate insurance (note that this is not a DSWA event).
Update 28th March, 2017: another date added - Saturday 1st April, details as below.
For anyone interested in getting some dyking practice in, there is an opportunity to volunteer
at Penicuik House Estate on Saturday the 18th of March, when work is being done on a haha (revetment). Meet at the estate office at 10 am. If arriving later the site is easily found as
it is less than 100m away at the far (south west) side of the house.
To get to the site on public transport, LRT bus numbers 15 and 37 will take you to northwestern end of Bog Road, from whence the estate is accessed by turning left onto the A766 and then left through the Lodge gates and along the path to the office in the main building (not in the stables, which are now a private home). If driving, proceed further along the A766 before turning into the car park and taking the path to the office.
Volunteers will be covered by the estate insurance (note that this is not a DSWA event).
Change to programme - Ferry Glen/Wooplaw
We've made a change to a couple of dates in our programme for this summer: on the 24th of July we'll now be returning to Wooplaw in the borders, and on the 28th of August we'll be embarking on a project in association with the Friends of the Ferry Glen (find them at www.ferryglen.org.uk), on the part of said glen which runs along the old railway track between Dalmeny and Queensferry. The idea is to build a stone seat similar to the one we built at Slateford on the Water of Leith (see blog entry here for details) allowing walkers and cyclists to rest awhile and enjoy the great views the glen affords across the Forth up to the bridges.
Pentland Way plinth
The Pentland Way plinth, which we built in association with the Friends of the Pentlands (see blog entry for details of build) now has the plaque and board attached:
Dry stone on the silver screen
Some of you may have noticed that there's a new 'Star Wars' film out. It's called 'The Force Awakens' - and (if you haven't seen it) you'll be delighted to hear that it features some dry stone walls. Sadly, however, these are not given the prominence they deserve and only appear at the very end (sorry for the spoiler). Having said that, dry stone work is a feature which has been sorely neglected by the mainstream movie industry, so I suppose we should just be glad that they're in there at all.
SES DSWA rating: Three stars; quite good, but could have done with more dry stone.
SES DSWA rating: Three stars; quite good, but could have done with more dry stone.
Dry stone trees?
Dyker Richard Clegg and his son Lewyn have created some pretty impressive dry stone trees - check them out here: http://naturalhomes.org/timeline/the-stone-tree.htm.
New event added
Due to popular demand we've added another event to our calendar this year: on Sunday October 25th we'll be continuing our work at Wooplaw Community Woodland in the Scottish Borders between Stow, Lauder and Galashiels - check out our blog for reports of our previous visits.
Venue for 4th October changed
The venue for our 4th of October meeting has changed - we're now working on (and hopefully finishing) the repairs to the wall between Bonaly and Torduff in the Pentland Hills Regional Park. Meet at 10am in the Bonaly car park - if you manage to miss us there, the site is about a quarter of a mile to the east, along the path towards Torduff.
Dyking Game
21 August 2015
Edinburgh Art College student Xiangting Ruan has created a Dyking Game for her degree - you can check it out for the next couple of days at the Art College degree show at the West Port in Edinburgh (website http://www.degreeshow.eca.ed.ac.uk/2015/portfolio/dyking-game). It's a pretty impressive piece of work, very professionally done indeed.
Edinburgh Art College student Xiangting Ruan has created a Dyking Game for her degree - you can check it out for the next couple of days at the Art College degree show at the West Port in Edinburgh (website http://www.degreeshow.eca.ed.ac.uk/2015/portfolio/dyking-game). It's a pretty impressive piece of work, very professionally done indeed.
Your little dyker figure goes round the board in normal board-game fashion, picking up various types of stone as he (or she) goes.
There are also story, accident and attack cards - accidents can be good as well as bad (happy accident? I've had a few of those ...). Attack cards allow you to "attack" other players' walls, by talking stones off them or even pinching them. I'm sure that would never happen in the real dyking world (shut up Mike, those were my stones as much as they were yours, they just happened to be nearer your bit of wall, that's all).
She's really done her homework, on both dyking and games - there's a big (and also very professional looking) book to go with the exhibit, with interviews with dykers (I saw SES members Richard Love and Jason Hoffman quoted), background and theory of dyking, and justification for the project as helping to protect our "tangible intangible cultural heritage".
I had a go at it ... the only issue I had was that the stones are a bit light and so fall off the wall quite easily. But I'd definitely buy it if it went into production.
BBC article on dry stone walling
8 August 2015
A short piece by the BBC on dry stone walls, including an interesting medieval wolf wall.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33819675
A short piece by the BBC on dry stone walls, including an interesting medieval wolf wall.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33819675
Halicarnassus
21 June 2015
Earlier this month, one of our committee, Mike Bisland, went on holiday to Halicarnassus in Turkey. Very nice, I hear you say, but what's that got to do with dry stone walling? Well, as I'm sure you all know, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Nowadays there's nothing much left of the Mausoleum, due to effects of earthquakes, being built at a place water cascades down from the mountains through to the coast, and most of the stones being removed by Knights of St John to build the Crusader castle in Bodrum harbour. However, on the plus side, the site is now surrounded by (you guessed it) a dry stone wall.
Earlier this month, one of our committee, Mike Bisland, went on holiday to Halicarnassus in Turkey. Very nice, I hear you say, but what's that got to do with dry stone walling? Well, as I'm sure you all know, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Nowadays there's nothing much left of the Mausoleum, due to effects of earthquakes, being built at a place water cascades down from the mountains through to the coast, and most of the stones being removed by Knights of St John to build the Crusader castle in Bodrum harbour. However, on the plus side, the site is now surrounded by (you guessed it) a dry stone wall.
I'm not sure what the arched niches are for - presumably they're for housing something. Lamps, perhaps, if the site is (or was) open at night?
It all seems pretty well made - with even what looks like a dry stone doorway in one corner.
Venue for Saturday 6th June changed
22 May 2015
The venue for Saturday the 6th of June's meet has been CHANGED. Our visit to Swanston has been postponed until 1/8, and instead this Saturday we are meeting at Harlaw Reservoir visitor centre (map reference GR181652) at the later than usual time of 1100h. There is a car park at GR182655, which is accessed from the A70 at Currie by turning left (if coming from Edinburgh) past Currie Kirk and then right at the top of the hill, and then left at Harlaw Farm - the car park is at the end of the road on the right and the visitor centre is through the gate and turn right. Alternatively if arriving in Balerno, take the Harlaw Road turning and follow the road around to the left to arrive at Harlaw Farm, and then take a right turn for the car park. By public transport take the LRT bus route 44 (6 services per hour) to the terminus at Cockburn Crescent and head southwards up Mansfied Road, taking the left turning (Malleny Millgate) which will bring you to Harlaw Road (as per driving via Balerno), but with a short cut available at the left turn which will take you via a footpath to the visitor centre, barely 2km from the bus terminus. (Please note that there are no lunch facilities closer than Balerno village).
The venue for Saturday the 6th of June's meet has been CHANGED. Our visit to Swanston has been postponed until 1/8, and instead this Saturday we are meeting at Harlaw Reservoir visitor centre (map reference GR181652) at the later than usual time of 1100h. There is a car park at GR182655, which is accessed from the A70 at Currie by turning left (if coming from Edinburgh) past Currie Kirk and then right at the top of the hill, and then left at Harlaw Farm - the car park is at the end of the road on the right and the visitor centre is through the gate and turn right. Alternatively if arriving in Balerno, take the Harlaw Road turning and follow the road around to the left to arrive at Harlaw Farm, and then take a right turn for the car park. By public transport take the LRT bus route 44 (6 services per hour) to the terminus at Cockburn Crescent and head southwards up Mansfied Road, taking the left turning (Malleny Millgate) which will bring you to Harlaw Road (as per driving via Balerno), but with a short cut available at the left turn which will take you via a footpath to the visitor centre, barely 2km from the bus terminus. (Please note that there are no lunch facilities closer than Balerno village).
Visit from the School of Architecture at the University of Michigan
22 May 2015
On Tuesday 12th May our chairman, Richard Love, met a group of visitors from the School of Architecture at the University of Michigan who were visiting Scotland and wanted too learn something of dry stone construction - his report is below.
Twelve fresh faced students and their leader, Andrew Holder, assistant Professor at the School of Architecture at the University of Michigan, met up with me at St Andrew Square Bus Station in the morning. We headed to Flotterstone for a mini dyking workshop and a walk around the local area. They got a basic introduction to dry stone walling, followed by a short chat with Velda, the local ranger who was opening up the visitor centre. We then worked on a short section of the boundary dyke alongside the field to the right of the road up the glen. All students managed to get a look in and I instructed and built from the field (ie barbed wire fence) side.
Amazingly we managed to finish in time for a good drink and lunch at Flotterstone Inn, the main reason for being there, of course. Andrew had heard about the inn and a friend had said he should visit it, not knowing we were going to be based in the area for the day. Luckily the heavens opened while we were lunching and stopped just as we came out, so we delayed our return into town for a gentle stroll up the glen and back by the old filter beds to catch the 101 Stagecoach back home. I gave them three books on walling to reinforce the message and got some good questions about the history of the craft and the local area.
All seemed to have a good time; I certainly did. They were due to spend a few more days in Edinburgh before heading north to Inverness, then Dublin and Provence.
On Tuesday 12th May our chairman, Richard Love, met a group of visitors from the School of Architecture at the University of Michigan who were visiting Scotland and wanted too learn something of dry stone construction - his report is below.
Twelve fresh faced students and their leader, Andrew Holder, assistant Professor at the School of Architecture at the University of Michigan, met up with me at St Andrew Square Bus Station in the morning. We headed to Flotterstone for a mini dyking workshop and a walk around the local area. They got a basic introduction to dry stone walling, followed by a short chat with Velda, the local ranger who was opening up the visitor centre. We then worked on a short section of the boundary dyke alongside the field to the right of the road up the glen. All students managed to get a look in and I instructed and built from the field (ie barbed wire fence) side.
Amazingly we managed to finish in time for a good drink and lunch at Flotterstone Inn, the main reason for being there, of course. Andrew had heard about the inn and a friend had said he should visit it, not knowing we were going to be based in the area for the day. Luckily the heavens opened while we were lunching and stopped just as we came out, so we delayed our return into town for a gentle stroll up the glen and back by the old filter beds to catch the 101 Stagecoach back home. I gave them three books on walling to reinforce the message and got some good questions about the history of the craft and the local area.
All seemed to have a good time; I certainly did. They were due to spend a few more days in Edinburgh before heading north to Inverness, then Dublin and Provence.
12th April 2015: date change for Shiplaw event
The event planned at Shiplaw next month has been moved from Sunday the 10th May to the day before (Saturday the 9th) due to greater availability of our more experienced members. Hope that everyone who was planning to come along can still make it - please don't hesitate to get in touch (using our contact page) if this is an issue for you (or if you want to say anything else).
September 6th 2014 event cancelled
Sorry to sat our planned event on Saturday the 6th of September 2014 at the Water of Leith has been cancelled. Hopefully we'll manage to do something here next year. Apologies to all/any who were planning on going along.
Gardening Scotland, 30th May - 1st June 2014
Gardening Scotland is on from Friday the 30th of May to Sunday the 1st of June at the Royal Highland Showground near Edinburgh Airport. As usual, our sister organisation the West of Scotland Dry Stone Walling Association have designed and built (with some help from the Scottish branches of the Dry Stone Walling Association) an entry for the show garden competition. I tried to go along and help with the build last weekend, but arrived too late and all the work was done. This maybe wasn't such a bad thing, however, as the heavens opened about five minutes before I got there.
One thing about touch-screen smartphones is that they don't work well in the wet, so I gave up and waited in the car until the rain had died down - once it had cleared up a little I got some better pictures.
I'm not sure if the sundial is meant to be a water feature or if this was just a side effect of the weather - the beds will be filled with plants for the actual show. The garden is in commemoration of the centenary the First World War (you can maybe just make out the dates 1914-1918 carved on the door lintel), and after the show it will all be dismantled and re-erected at the Erskine Military Veterans Hospital.
April 2014 training course cancelled
Sadly, due to lack of interest, we've had to cancel our April training course. Perhaps the recent weather has been putting people off ... the old joke about 'wet stone walling' has been more appropriate than ever of late. However, there are still places available on both the June 28/29 and September 13/14 courses - please use the contact form under Get in touch on the left if you're interested.
AGM - Wednesday 6th November 2013, 7.30pm
Our AGM will be held on Wednesday, the 6th of November, at 7.30 pm in the Water of Leith Centre at 24 Lanark Road, Slateford, Edinbugh. As well as the usual reports on our activities and the current state of affairs within the branch and the wider Association, there will be a talk by Angus Miller, a geologist and lecturer whose popular Geowalks have entertained and educated numerous groups of both adults and schoolchildren since 1998. The Centre is five minutes walk from Slateford Station and LRT bus routes 20, 34 and 44/44A stop right outside with routes 4 and 35 passing within five minutes walk. There is parking at the Centre itself, and on Lanark Road.
Leonardo Project, Spain 6-13 October 2013
The following report comes from Jason Hoffman, one of our professional members and a former branch treasurer.
I was fortunate to be selected as one of the British wallers to be offered a place on an EU funded cultural exchange programme, called Leonardo. The DSWA has been working with partner organisations in Spain, Italy and France for a couple of years putting together a programme of walling based reciprocal visits. In early October, it was the turn of Spain to host wallers and stone interested people from the other partner countries. So, myself, Alison Shaw from DSWA HQ, and six other professional wallers headed to the sun of Andalucía.
I was fortunate to be selected as one of the British wallers to be offered a place on an EU funded cultural exchange programme, called Leonardo. The DSWA has been working with partner organisations in Spain, Italy and France for a couple of years putting together a programme of walling based reciprocal visits. In early October, it was the turn of Spain to host wallers and stone interested people from the other partner countries. So, myself, Alison Shaw from DSWA HQ, and six other professional wallers headed to the sun of Andalucía.
We spent a fascinating evening walking around the streets of Seville on the first evening, in the company of our host Alberto. It’s a beautiful city and the area around the cathedral doubly so. One of the most interesting aspects of the trip was the language barriers that existed between the different nationalities. Alberto is a very enthusiastic Spaniard who speaks his own language very well, but unfortunately English not so well. Our Spanish was limited to asking for beer. So, I’m not so sure what he told us about the cathedral, but I am sure it was interesting...
One thing that was clear from early on in the trip was that we would be fed very well. From arriving in Seville, we were put on a strict regime of eating, eating and more eating.
Day 1 proper and we had a presentation from various parties, including all four partner organisations. It was clear that the Leonardo project was a lot bigger than I had assumed – there are many organisations involved in Spain, and the Spanish have set themselves a wide ranging remit of raising the profile of the heritage of stone structures within the Andalucian countryside.
Later in the day the whole party drove a couple of hours further north to the town of Constantina, which is where we were based for the next couple of days. In the two days in Constantina, we were shown points of interest, including an amazing karst landscape that had formerly been an iron ore quarry that was interestingly set up by Scottish engineers in the 19th Century. I brought a small piece of iron ore home with me – it is so dense and heavy for such a small stone.
On the Tuesday afternoon, we shifted location to the south coast, moving to Tarifa. Situated an hour west of Gibraltar, Tarifa is pretty much the closest bit of Spain to North Africa. Finally, we would get to build something. But only after another massive dinner.
One thing that was clear from early on in the trip was that we would be fed very well. From arriving in Seville, we were put on a strict regime of eating, eating and more eating.
Day 1 proper and we had a presentation from various parties, including all four partner organisations. It was clear that the Leonardo project was a lot bigger than I had assumed – there are many organisations involved in Spain, and the Spanish have set themselves a wide ranging remit of raising the profile of the heritage of stone structures within the Andalucian countryside.
Later in the day the whole party drove a couple of hours further north to the town of Constantina, which is where we were based for the next couple of days. In the two days in Constantina, we were shown points of interest, including an amazing karst landscape that had formerly been an iron ore quarry that was interestingly set up by Scottish engineers in the 19th Century. I brought a small piece of iron ore home with me – it is so dense and heavy for such a small stone.
On the Tuesday afternoon, we shifted location to the south coast, moving to Tarifa. Situated an hour west of Gibraltar, Tarifa is pretty much the closest bit of Spain to North Africa. Finally, we would get to build something. But only after another massive dinner.
Building began on Wednesday, with a basic plan of getting two stone structures created over three days. Although there were nearly forty wallers, it became clear over the next day or so that the British and some of the French were the only professional stone workers. Most of the Italians were rangers or workers from their national parks, and although they did some stone repair work, walling was not their full-time job. The French were a mix of trainers and trainees embarked on their walling training programme. All of the Spanish wallers were amateurs.
I had hoped to learn something of the techniques used by partner nations, but I was to be disappointed in this. We tended to work in our own separate groups; and although it was interesting watching how others worked, it was clear early on that the Brits had the better technique, organisation and work ethic. Basically, we worked harder, faster and longer.
The stone was a mix of sandstone and limestone. We had 20 tonnes delivered prior to starting work, and when on day two of building, we started to run out, I was one of several people volunteered to get more. We drove back along the access the road for a bit, and then struck up the hillside. Basically, the stone was all around us, and we just had to pick it up and move it to a waiting truck. It’s a very old fashioned method, and novel to someone like me who is used to getting deliveries of stone for my work! Making it even more fun was being told to check for scorpions under the stones. Sure enough, the next stone I picked had a very annoyed looking scorpion, with poisonous tail raised and ready for action. The stone was replaced, and I moved on. As you can imagine, I was very careful after that!
The stone was a mix of sandstone and limestone. We had 20 tonnes delivered prior to starting work, and when on day two of building, we started to run out, I was one of several people volunteered to get more. We drove back along the access the road for a bit, and then struck up the hillside. Basically, the stone was all around us, and we just had to pick it up and move it to a waiting truck. It’s a very old fashioned method, and novel to someone like me who is used to getting deliveries of stone for my work! Making it even more fun was being told to check for scorpions under the stones. Sure enough, the next stone I picked had a very annoyed looking scorpion, with poisonous tail raised and ready for action. The stone was replaced, and I moved on. As you can imagine, I was very careful after that!
Back at the work site, the two structures – a round sheep fold and a square building base – were progressing. The different groups worked according to their principles: the Italians “stole” all of the nicest stone (and later accused the Brits of doing just that!); the French were busy with their chisels; the Spanish seemed intent on just throwing their wall up; and the Brits were working methodically trying to keep batter, crossing joints, and stone running into the wall.
One of the downsides of the project was that it was only on the final day of the build that we all had a discussion about methods of working and building. There were some clear differences in style and even some lack of basic technical know-how amongst some of the group. With a mix of experience and nationalities, it was always going to be hard to organise the work.
Notwithstanding the issues from the dry stone work, the project was amazing. We all had a great time; everyone got on well; we were well fed and there was ample chance to socialise and use our best pidgin French/Spanish/Italian/Yorkshire.
Hopefully the initial set of visits will lead to the development of further ties with the partner countries. It would be beneficial from a professional point of view to be able to work abroad, and also to offer work to others too. And hopefully the project will strengthen ties amongst members in the UK too. Sometimes working away on your own in Scotland, you forget that there is a whole world of walling going on in other parts of the UK.
One of the downsides of the project was that it was only on the final day of the build that we all had a discussion about methods of working and building. There were some clear differences in style and even some lack of basic technical know-how amongst some of the group. With a mix of experience and nationalities, it was always going to be hard to organise the work.
Notwithstanding the issues from the dry stone work, the project was amazing. We all had a great time; everyone got on well; we were well fed and there was ample chance to socialise and use our best pidgin French/Spanish/Italian/Yorkshire.
Hopefully the initial set of visits will lead to the development of further ties with the partner countries. It would be beneficial from a professional point of view to be able to work abroad, and also to offer work to others too. And hopefully the project will strengthen ties amongst members in the UK too. Sometimes working away on your own in Scotland, you forget that there is a whole world of walling going on in other parts of the UK.
Programme update, Sept. 2013
Our programme originally had the date of the BGS open day as the 21st of September. This is incorrect - the date of the open day is the following Saturday, the 28th. Programme now amended - hope to see you there.
