Joint Branches Project at Threave

Every year for the last seven (I think) years the South West Scotland branch have organised a joint branches project at Threave Castle, near the town of Castle Douglas in Dumfriesshire. I was at the first one and there were people there from all over Scotland, but it's grown since then and at last weekend's event there were English and I think even Welsh branch members in attendance. There was some threat of rain, but there were sunny intervals forecast as well, so we set out hoping for the best.

They choose a different project each year, and this time it was a curved wall around a carved seat. The National Trust for Scotland, who manage the site, had cleared the area around the seat and provided us with a big pile of stone.

There were about 20 people there on the Saturday, which was actually a few too many for even a big project like this.

So a small team split off and went to repair a nearby cheek end which needed rebuilding.

And I, who still had my bad back, did my bit and went off to have a look around the castle (well, we all have to help however we can in circumstances like this). It's on an island in the River Dee, and you have to take a boat over to it.

We didn't stay too long though, as we'd been told there was soup, coffee and cake for elevenses. The wallers were getting on well, both at the seat and the cheek end.

Suitable refreshed we (well, they) set back to work, and both sites had progressed by lunchtime.

Linda from the South West branch had not only made the delicious soup and cakes, but also provided wraps for lunch, plus more cake. The weather brightened up a bit in the afternoon, though there were still threatening looking clouds.

By the end of the day the cheek-enders had finished their bit.

The seat wallers had got a lot done as well, but there was still work remaining for the Sunday.

I wasn't able to go back the next day, but hopefully someone will have taken some photos - I'll post them here as soon as I have them.

Thanks to Sam again for some of the photos.

​And here, thanks to Richard, is a photo of the finished wall on the Sunday. They did another cheek end on Sunday as well, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get a photo of that - if I do, I'll add it here.