Eight trainees attended the course at South Mains farm. They came from Lewis in the north west and Peterhead in the north east as well Drymen in the west and from a few more local places in Angus and Dundee. Jim Grant was once again our instructor for the weekend and Doug C stepped in as branch contact, which was a great help to me. The weather was on the whole kind to the trainees - isn’t it always at South Mains and Kirsty’s catering was as usual excellent with wonderful soups and of course cake.
There was only one woman on the course - I recall one year at South Mains when 7 of the 8 attendees were women. On the positive side one woman withdrew because she got a place on the DSWA 4 day course in Cumbria. Another positive, was the attendance of a 13 year old, who showed great interest in walling. There is hope for the future of the craft.
A compilation of comments:
‘Thanks for organising the dry stone walling course. I thoroughly enjoyed it…….I hope my enthusiasm and skill set will mean I can fix our wall.’