“Fantastic course, well thought out, well taught, and a skill that I will pursue. I’ll always look at existing stonework in a new light.”
Thank you for your participant feedback!
Thanks very much to instructor Kim Coggin for sharing her thoughts on the late-May 2-Day Introduction to Dry Stone Walling.
The workshop was AWESOME! We had a great group of students. They persevered during the 90F-plus temperatures both Saturday and Sunday. Thank goodness we were able to be inside the barn! That old 1862 cow barn was cooler than outside and maintained most of its coolness into the second day.
Since everyone was doing such a great job and building faster than normal, Bryce and I decided to have a Q & A session. This allowed the students to ask many questions, everything from foundation, batters, lines, tools, to how to harvest stone…..
On the second day in addition to their workshop, Bryce took them on a tour of the Masters Park. They visited each feature and talked about its function, how it was built and its historical use.
After the tour everyone came back to the barn and finished their walls. With the copes firmly on the wall, they stood back and looked with huge smiles of satisfaction. They took some pictures of their newly built walls to share with family and friends. The finished product is the ultimate prize!
Thanks very much to everyone for sharing your valuable feedback. Most people reported feeling confident about moving on to their own projects. You understand the method of building–establish your batter, long end in, pin each stone, cross your joints, build to the string–and how it results in a beautiful wall that will withstand the forces of time.
For those interested in participating in more women’s workshops, we’ll plan to schedule some Fundamentals for women in 2023. A “next step” workshop to consider this fall: Women’s 2-Day Cheek Rebuild. Kim will be there! Be sure to give yourself plenty of practice building the face of the wall between now and then.
For those interested in more information about the economics of designing and building your project, we hope to offer a course in future years. In the meantime, feel free to send your questions to info@thestonetrust.org. You may also consult our Professional Member Directory and Find A Stone Wall Contractor pages. (Scroll down. The tops of the two pages look the same.) You may find something helpful on our Stone Wall Design and Specifications page.
Thanks very much to everyone for coming to learn the five basic rules of dry stone walling! By knowing, you help preserve the art and craft.
Thanks, too, to Kim Coggin and Bryce Hollingsworth for sharing their knowledge, experience, and love of walling. It takes wallers to teach walling!
