Last weekend I passed my DWSA level 2 dry stone walling exam, and will now be registered as a Professional Waller with the Dry Stone Walling Association. I’m thrilled. After hours and hours and hours of practise in all weathers, and fitting it all in with work and ‘life in general’, it’s been a solid summer. But it’s been worth it.

On the 3rd February 2018 I wrote this as a blog:

About ten years ago, put under pressure from a well-meaning friend, I came out … as a closet dry-stone waller. I have always absolutely adored it; even writing about it is making me smile. My earliest memories are actually building little dry stone walls from the broken bits of stone cast to one side by dad as he built ‘grown up’ stone walls at home. Aged 6 or 7, I would build my little dry stone walls alongside dad only to have them knocked down at the end of the day in the clearing up process. I’d like to think dad knew what he was doing, fostering an innate skill, but knowing him, it was just cheaper than buying Lego! Either way, I have been totally addicted ever since.

Much later in life, I read an article about a man recuperating from Leukaemia in Hawaii. He would visit the beach every day to stack stones as a mindful and healing endeavour. That was enough to spur me into action and I contacted ‘Master’ Dry Stone Waller, Ken Young. We met ‘up in the God’s’ on a bleak Welsh moor above Blackwood, in horizontal rain. Sharing a cuppa in the front of his Land Rover, I told him about my love of stone and the Hawaiian story.

“Of course, I want to be able to build proper stone walls as an obvious addition to my landscaping work”. I added wisely.

Staring straight ahead, Ken replied, “I can teach you to build a dry stone wall, but if you just want to stack stones, you can buggar off and find someone else to do it.”

In this crazy world, I was unable to get a grant or any financial help to enable me to train for any relevant qualifications, but Ken accommodated me as best he could, and the remainder of the learning curve is simply sheer determination and continual practise. My stone walls are obviously a far cry from Ken’s standard, but they stay up. And as Stuart Fry, another brilliant Welsh waller, who I did a brief course with, reassured me; “That’s the most important job for a wall.”

Fast forward over 6 years and my enthusiasm for dry stone walling remains as strong as ever but I’m pleased to report that my execution of them has improved greatly – to the point of being recognised as a ‘professional’. In the last 12 months since committing to the path of qualification, I have built and rebuilt numerous walls to include cheekends (and cheeky additions like my stone dogs and engraved stones), in all conditions, including timed ones.

The south Wales branch of the Dry Stone Walling Association provided additional training opportunities and guidance at their site (also up in the Gods) above Cwmtwrch and fellow wallers, assessors (and even the examiner) have all been ‘bloody brilliant’. As have those who helped me to be able to dedicate the time needed, my understanding clients and people who sent messages of encouragement. There has been some much appreciated cheer-leading behind the scenes.

Thank you all - to paraphrase, ‘It takes a community to raise a wall’.