Setting The Last Rock

One of the delights of dry stone walling for me is the celebrations at the completion of the work. Normally after a interesting project we have a get together of all those involved in the organising and construction of the job. Often there will be food, drink and music in addition to a ceremony which I enjoy where each person present signs their name and writes a message to whoever finds the bottle which we place somewhere in the wall along with coins or some other artifact which may be found 100 years later. The bottle of course has to be emptied before the placing. The wording varies enormously from good wishes to the finder or even a demand to repair the wall if they have broken it down.

The photos shown here are from a wonderful evening in Rossiniere in Switzerland when the final rock was lowered into place amid much rejoicing about repairing mountain paths in the high Alps.

Transformation in Ethiopia

These photos from Dieter Schneider show work in Ethiopia which has changed lives . Through the charity Caritas ,a group of wallers from Switzerland have been helping the local people to build a series of retaining walls not along the valley sides but across the valleys. As a result the sudden flow of occasional heavy rain which normally scours away the very sparse soil is delayed by the dams.The effect is to create flat areas of rich fertile ground in a part of the country normally thought of as semi desert, which only supported a few goats in the past. This is a project where dry stone walls have meant that folk who were living at a subsistence level are now producing a surplus of food .A great credit to everyone involved.

Choosing the correct stone

This fine garden entrance was built by Scottish Master Craftsman Jim Scott. Here you can see a good example of how wallers have to adapt their style to the available rock. At either side of the arch the adjoining wall has been built with round field stones which would not be suitable for the entrance. For the strength of the curve it must have been necessary to select a different type of rock and to dress these to produce the tapered effect. This is a situation becoming more common in the wallers world where they have to work as a mason but without mortar. Here in Scotland there are two seperate crafts which are overlapping . Quite a challenge for me perhaps I could get some lessons from you Jim?

Combinations

There are times when dry stone work can be combined with mortared walls to create interesting features. This dip pool shows this beautifully . The initial stage was to erect a mortared structure to support a plastic liner. This was then surrounded by the dry stone phase. Finally flat stones were laid along the top edge to finish off a fine job. Xander Kuperij sent these photos of his work and for more examples have a look at his website http://www.brimstoneworx.com/

Sphere of Influence

At one time dry stone walling was considered an important but basically functional part of the rural environment. In the countryside the wallers were respected as craft workers. Gradually in western Europe the walls and buildings built without cement began to fall into disrepair. This was the result of modern advances in fencing, the move into cities ,the catastrophic wars and a shortage of agricultural workers. Recently there has been a revival of interest. Fashions have changed , programmes on garden design on TV ,a realisation that many traditional crafts were being lost , these and other factors have resulted in many new people starting to enjoy building and appreciating the work. Many of the new comers had no background in the countryside and had a completely different approach to the craft. Now it is seen often as an art and the structures created do not need to be functional. They can be appreciated as works of great skill and often of great art.

This sphere built by Dean McLellan and John Shaw-Rimmington at Canada Blooms Garden Show ,is a fine illustration of what I mean. For more visit http://www.dswac.ca/

Quarrying by hand

It is essential to have the right rocks for any job. Often almost every type of stone can be utilised for standard walls but when it comes to steps one really requires relatively large flat pieces. Recently I was able to quarry out by hand the perfect slabs for a set of 12 steps in the South of France. Luckily the local bedrock is a flat bedded limestone which can be detached fairly easily. We used iron bars and what is called a trump pick to loosen the required pieces. A small half ton trailer was all that was needed to move the slabs down to the job site. With the aid of a hessian sack two of us were able to load and unload all that we excavated.
Many places now do not allow the removal of bedrock ,so make sure that you seek permission before attempting an exercise like this.
The photo show the result of around 15 minutes of hard work to obtain three useful specimens.

Steps in the South of France

I spent the last month avoiding a driech ( an old Scots word for dirty damp cold weather) winter time in Scotland. Down in the sunshine and lets face it the occasional wet and windy South of France , Canadian craftworker Hilary Martin and I helped Vince Bourne to build a set of steps. We were able to quarry out suitable rocks .(more of that in the next entry) Starting as always at the bottom we made sure that each tread was on a solid foundation and that each step had the weight of those above holding them in position. There was some discussion about the flatness of steps .We decided to slope them very slightly into the step above and very slightly into the hillside to make the climb feel more secure. The width was never less than 45 to 50 cms. and the height of the tread was kept almost constant at 20 cms.This regularity ensures that when you descend there is much less risk of tripping.The photos show a traditional before and after.

I must also mention Ros Bourne who did a wonderful job tending our needs with a magic combination of French and English cuisine.