After our last big medley weekend of workshops is over and with days getting shorter, grab a good book to read during those long, dark evenings. If you look closely at the books in our online store, hidden among the assortment of ‘how-to’ books, you’ll find two gems on the history of stone walls. The…
On two beautiful late September days, fifteen men and women gathered at the Stone Trust Center in Dummerston, Vermont to learn the five basic rules of dry stone walling. Four others came to apply those principles to building vertical wall ends, also known as cheek ends. You came from near and far–Vermont, Massachusetts, New York,…
It takes brave souls to test their walling skills against the Dry Stone Walling Association’s Craftsman Certification Scheme. Each of you fit training into busy lives full of work, family, friends, community obligations, celebrations and losses. Some of you drove 2000 miles, others 400. A few of you live relatively close to the Stone Trust…
Four people came to Saturday’s Test Prep workshop, taught by Jamie Masefield, to be sure they are ready to pass the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain Level 1 Initial Waller certification test, coming up next week. This group includes those who engaged in their first walling workshop in 2021 and have been “bitten by…
“Stones are strong in compression, but weak in tension,” writes Brian Post, DSWA Master Craftsman, in this very informative article on stone shaping which appeared in the Dec/Jan issue of Mother Earth News magazine. In the Basic Techniques for Shaping Stone article, Brian starts by explaining the difference between level bedded and irregular stone. He…
“Best darn workshop–beautiful and learned a ton!” Two beautiful late summer days brought two happy groups of people to the Stone Trust Center in Dummerston, Vermont to learn the five basic rules of dry stone walling. Given the weather and the prevalence of the Delta Variant, we chose to teach outside on the social-distance walls…
For the first time since March 2020, we were able to host a workshop in the Stone Trust’s Indoor Training Center. On Saturday, that kept all sixteen participants out of the hot sun. The foundation of the 1862 barn tends to be ten degrees cooler than outdoors. Nevertheless, one person reported being “Hot! Very hot!”…
Pete Ryder, site facilitator of the Stone Trust New Hampshire site, described the weather and the flow of interaction at August’s 2-Day Introduction to Dry Stone Walling this way, “Everything seemed above average.” He said, “It was kind of a Lake Woebegone workshop.” Judging by the photos, you can see what he means! As always,…
