Words from instructor and site champion, Martin Beevers
Oh boy. One minute it’s freezing cold, next minute we’ve got a minor heatwave. Such is springtime in Tennessee. Six people came to The Stone Trust TN, near Nashville, for a two-day Introduction to Dry Stone Walling weekend. One came from Alabama, one from California, and four Tennesseans which was great to see; local interest in training continues to grow. All novices and all keen to demystify the craft of dry stone wall building.
I consider it quite a responsibility guiding complete beginners through their first tentative steps with dry stonework. It’s not a black and white subject. There’s an exception to every rule. There’s always a compromise to be made. And the truth of the matter is, anybody can talk a good wall. Reality strikes when you start putting your first stones on top of one another and realize it doesn’t always work like in the diagrams. At that point, it’s either embrace the random nature of stone, or find a different hobby.
But this was a pretty determined bunch who took to the task admirably. They made real progress and built some good walling to show off at the end.
Unfortunately, the Saturday heatwave took its toll on two of our group, so we finished the weekend with only four hardy souls still standing. They’ll be back.
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Thank you all for participating in a workshop to learn the five basic rules of dry stone walling. You showed determination by working through difficult weather conditions to learn new skills.
Thank you to instructor, Martin Beevers, for sharing your knowledge to continue the tradition of dry stone walling.
