Rocktober Canada 4

One of the students on the course, Sean Donnelly, returned to his property and rebuilt a long section of retaining wall. The photos show a before and after where he has added a neat set of steps.

Rocktober in Canada 3

During the Thanksgiving Dry Stone Festival at Cornish Hollow in Ontario I was involved in teaching a group of students . They were constructing a wall typical of those found in Scotland with upright coping stones.Although some of the participants were experienced mortar masons most had done little dry stone work before and together they produced a very solid, long lasting and beautiful stretch of wall. Congratulations to all , Bob Wiskera, Margaret Abernathy, Phil Abernathy, Richard Portelance, Cameron Leseur, Sean Donnelly, Neil Innes, Vivian Walsworth, Sandra Pillar, Myriam Lefebvre, John Scott and Marguerite Long.

Rocktober in Canada 2

One of the fine craftsmen I met up with this October was Dean McLellan. He was faced with a daunting task of building a wall with granite rocks and boulders which had been rolled about by the North American ice sheet and advancing and retreating glaciers. Dean had the skill to create a beautiful structure from material that many good wallers would have been struggling with. The photos show the starting pile of stone and the finished result. Well done Dean!

Rocktober in Canada

In June 2006 I posted The Cheese Wedge on this blog. It was designed by John Shaw-Rimmington and built by him and some of his professionals in the Niagara Parks Botanic gardens. This year I was privileged to join John in building the follow up feature,The Veg Wedge, along with several of the horticultural students at the gardens.

What a great combination of fun and hard work it was. Many thanks to Darrell, Greg, Nadine, Justine, Josh, Blair, Blane, Luke (and his Dad) Laura, Lawrence, Ellen, Mat and any others that I have missed or misspelt. The concept designed by John and Evan Oxland will be planted in the spring with climbing vegetables. Next year it will be added to the blog again to show the 9 foot structure in its full glory.

Garden wall

These photos were sent to me by David Bourne showing work he has done in his garden in the North of Scotland, a retaining wall with steps and a picnic area. This is a good example of what can be achieved by anyone with a real feeling for rocks. With little formal training David has demonstrated what can be done by ordinary folk . He has made his bit of the planet look cared for. Good luck to him and everyone else who realises what a difference dry stone walling can make, then does something about it.