Four participants each built their own feature over the course of three days, selecting an arch, a square corner, a round corner, or a squeeze stile. On day one, instructor Brian Post engaged students in lots of learning and discussion about each feature’s structure, purpose, traditional use, and variations. Days two and three involved practical…
The Test Prep workshop on May 14 brought five men, four of whom work as professionals in hardscape/landscape and have done so for many years. The fifth has been immersing himself in learning to build with dry stone as an extension to his professional life as an architect. Instructors Martin Beevers and Dan Morales- Walsh…
SAM BRAKELEY (Vermont) is the owner of Hermit Woods Trailbuilders, and has been building stone walls around Vermont and New Hampshire for almost ten years. Sam writes: “In addition to the art and craft of dry stone walling, I love the physical nature of the pursuit. To come home at the end of the day…
Sketches and Text by Brian Post Building with Correct Line and Batter Line refers to the horizontal straightness of the wall. Batter refers to the angle of the faces of the wall from vertical. Many level 2 testers struggle immensely with getting the line and batter correct while working under the time pressure of the…
For the Stone Trust, May brings Spring Certification Test Day. On May 17, eleven people will gather at the Stone Trust Center in Dummerston, Vermont to test their walling skills. Five of these men and women will spend seven hours stripping out and rebuilding 27 square feet of a double-face freestanding wall. They will achieve…
We so appreciate the time you took to travel to Kingston Springs to participate in the very first Stone Trust dry stone walling workshop in the southeastern United States. Thank you! You helped establish the foundation for a growing annual schedule of workshops from our Curriculum in Dry Stone. Several of you asked us to…
Sketches and Text by Brian Post Leaping the Level 2 Hurdle The level 2 (intermediate) DSWA-GB certification test has proven to be quite difficult for many wallers who have passed level 1 (initial) certification. Level 2 aims to challenge your ability to make good choices, plan ahead, and build with correct line and batter. In…
Congratulations to Trevor Bickford, Whitney Brown, Melanie Kessler, Jonathan (Jonny) Mangini, and Kim Myers! Our selection committee awarded scholarships to these wallers, each of whom met a very tight deadline to apply for the 2021 Stone Trust Entry-Level Professional Pathway Scholarship. A decision is pending for a sixth applicant, from whom we sought additional information.…
Kim and Jerry Coggin of Laurel Stoneworks in South Fork, Pennsylvania will lead three one-day introductory workshops in October. Come learn the basic principles of building a structurally sound freestanding dry stone wall: 1.11 Women’s Introduction to Dry Stone Walling, October 9 1.11 Women’s Introduction to Dry Stone Walling, October 10 1.10 Introduction to Dry…
JOE DINWIDDIE (New Mexico) Since 1997, Joe has built, restored, and designed drystone masonry landscape installations throughout the United States and in Scotland. He got his start in the craft during its revival in central Kentucky in the mid-1990’s. In addition to building, Joe is dedicated to teaching. He leads hands-on workshops as well as…
