BCD 2017

106 T H E B U I L D I N G C O N S E R VAT I O N D I R E C T O R Y 2 0 1 7 However, many professional wallers prefer to be thought of not as construction workers but as independent craftspeople who work almost entirely in the conservation and heritage sector, repairing and rebuilding existing traditional boundaries. In this way they feel they can maintain their individuality and are not required to abide by what they see as unnecessary bureaucracy. REGIONAL VARIATIONS Like other vernacular and traditional construction methods, dry stone walling also has its own regional variations, which are mostly dependent on the geology of the available stone. Walling styles range from the stone-faced earth banks of the Cornish ‘hedge’ and Welsh clawdd , through the more regular sandstone and limestone structures found in the middle and north of England, to the single boulder ‘dykes’ of Galloway in south west Scotland. Longer and flatter stones readily available in sandstone areas are useful for constructing regularly coursed walls, as well as wall-heads, lintels and stiles. The volcanic, igneous stones of the western and northern fringes of the British Isles led to more randomly built walls and dykes, sometimes with large boulders incorporated into the finished structure. The copestones on top of a wall are the main feature which gives it its distinctive local shape and character (compare the two regional variations illustrated above and on page 105). THE CRAFT TODAY How does the ancient craft of dry stone walling, or ‘dyking’ in Scotland, fit into the modern heritage skills sector? The first point to recognise is that the craft did indeed experience a severe downturn, particularly after the second world war, as farms became more mechanised and there were fewer spare hands to maintain the huge number of agricultural walls. Walling competitions were instigated before the war to keep the skills alive and eventually, owing to the concern that skills had been dying out, a small group of dykers in south west Scotland established the fledgling Dry Stone Walling Association (DSWA) in 1968. The DSWA is now a charitable organisation, which has its head office in Cumbria and 19 branches around Britain, from the Isle of Skye to Dorset. The DSWA’s 1,000 members include ordinary members with an interest in the field and 250 professional wallers, most of whom have some level of certification (see below). However, there are many more professionals who have chosen not to register with the DSWA, usually because they already have sufficient work and do not feel the need to put themselves through an examination process to prove their ability. It is therefore difficult to quantify how many craftspeople are making some kind of living as dry stone wallers today: there may be a few hundred, perhaps as many as 1,000. Many wallers choose to work on agricultural, often grant-aided, repairs and this can provide those in certain areas of the country with a decent living. Others feel the need to stretch their skills by undertaking commissions in private gardens and on commercial projects where more complex features, as well as boundary walls, are needed. Steps, stiles, seats and monuments are often required and display gardens at local and national garden shows now provide the more adventurous wallers with excellent opportunities to showcase their work. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show can offer the craft an international shop window for wallers if garden designers provide encouragement for the imaginative use of stone. Smaller buildings are also still being made with dry stone techniques: three have been recognised by the DSWA’s Pinnacle Award for outstanding use of dry stone during the past 20 years. Dry stone shepherds’ huts can still be found in Europe (Croatia and France, for example) and dry stone is used to construct dwellings in parts of Nepal. TRAINING AND TESTING Most aspiring dry stone wallers start off by attending a one- or two-day weekend training course. These courses are often run by conservation charities but the quality of instruction provided can be of variable quality. Several colleges, particularly in England, provide walling courses run by qualified instructors with recognised walling and teaching certificates. The students can be trained to a sufficient standard to be able to take and pass the Level 1 (initial) and Level 2 (intermediate) certificates, which are timed assessments of entirely practical skills. DSWA branches also provide training courses, always run by certificated wallers with an appropriate instruction qualification, and arrange regular practical events for members to practise their skills sufficiently to be able to acquire certification by examination. The qualifications currently available are delivered under the auspices of Lantra Awards and DSWA. Lantra is a sector skills Regional variations 2: Cotswold wall end (DSWAPL/R Ingles) Corbelled stone shelter (Photo: DSWAPL/L Noble)