Collect and sort stone from the land, and help us build a retaining wall with a seat for the children’s fire pit area at our Farm campus!

This will be a hands on practical day focusing on the principles of building a dry stone wall.

In the morning session participants will work individually, preparing and building the first few courses of a practice wall. In the afternoon we will work as a group, building a retaining wall on the site.

Join us on Saturday 13th May for an introductory session. You're then invited back on Sunday 14th May alongside attendees of our previous Dry Stone Walling courses for FREE to finish the work you started! (you don't have to attend the Sunday session if you are unavailable)

What will I do and learn?

• How to prepare and sort stone ahead of building a wall
• Laying Foundations
• Learn the correct way to place face stone in a wall
• Laying stone in courses
• The importance of filling the middle of a wall
• Gain an introduction to using walling tools

Key Information

Date - Saturday 13th May and Sunday 14th May (optional) from 9am – 5pm

Location - meet at Talgarth Car Park, LD3 0PQ

Our campus is a car free site, and we encourage participants to meet at 9am at Talgarth carpark to walk up to the campus ready to start the course for 10am. This is a moderate uphill walk of 35-40 minutes. If you are unable to do so we will organise lift-shares from the Car Park.

What you need - You should wear suitable, weather-dependent PPE including gloves, and good, sturdy boots.

Please bring a water bottle and a packed lunch for a picnic at the farm.

Tea and coffee facilities available free of charge.

Age limit - You must be 16 years old or above to take part in this course for safety reasons. Under 18s should be accompanied by an adult.

Who will I learn from?

Stuart Iles

Stuart began walling in the Cotswolds and then the Brecon Beacons some 30 years ago. Walling has for the most part been a part-time pursuit and now consists of occasional projects including walling tuition and improver sessions with National Park volunteers. Circular Dry stone buildings have been an interest over the years.

How much does it cost?

We would like our short courses to be as accessible as possible cost-wise, whilst ensuring we are still able to cover material and teaching costs. We, therefore, ask you to pay what you can towards this event based on our tiered system. For the introductory session on Saturday 13th May, we have 10 spaces. We have tickets available at £50 (reduced rate), £75 (actual cost), and £100 (pay it forward).

Consider contributing MORE on the scale if you:

• have the ability to comfortably meet all of your basic needs
• have investments, retirement accounts, or inherited money
• travel recreationally
• own the home you live in
• have a relatively high degree of earning power due to level of education (or gender and racial privilege, class background, etc.)

Consider contributing LESS on the scale if you:

• have difficulty covering basic expenses
• are supporting children or have other dependents
• are an elder with limited financial support
• have unstable housing and/or limited access to reliable transportation

If you select an amount at the higher end of the scale, you will make possible future offerings and support our volunteers who are generously contributing time. Thank you!

Tickets are non-refundable. Depending on the uptake of the course we hold the right to cancel it, in which case you will be refunded.

Please note that spaces on this course are limited. We operate on a first-come, first-serve basis.

We have one fully-funded spot on this course available to a successful bursary applicant. If you are unable to pay for the course and would like to be considered for a free place, please complete this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdpQixbLm_Oa5i9GMTEffzC9egXUrUreZaRL7pLQR-8V78sRA/viewform?usp=sf_link and you will be contacted by a member of our team 2-4 weeks prior to the course starting.

Accessibility

This course is rated as 3 (least accessible) on our scale of accessibility.

Read more about our accessibility policy here.

Please see our booking terms & conditions upon checkout for more information. 

We will follow the most recent COVID measures and protocols in order to keep everyone safe and healthy for the duration of the course.