Handing down a tradition.

The amazing dry stone beehive hut project that was recently completed by those of us who participated in this year's Marenakos StoneFest near Seattle is a structure not unlike the vaulted roof Cabane we constructed in 2008 at our annual Canadian 'Rocktoberfest'. The French version of the Irish clochan is also a traditional round building made completely of dry laid stone and various historical examples of these buildings can be found in many parts of southern France.

The cabane that members of the Dry Stone Wall Association of Canada constructed 2 years ago had dimensions that were slightly wider and taller and the domed ceiling actually corbelled in using medium sized flattish stones set carefully in place so the tiled surface of the roof also shed water.

We finished the roof during the festival held near Cobourg, Ontario, Canada while nearly 1200 people came to watch over the three days of the Canadian Thanksgiving . Above are two photos comparing the the beehive hut and the French Cabane at similar stages of construction.

(This Thanksgiving October 8-11 our Canadian festival will be celebrating its 7th year where wallers from all over the world gather and show off their talents. Amongst other demonstrations and presentations during this 4 day event, a crew of professional wallers will be building a dry stone 'footbridge' along a forested trail at Landon Park on the 1000 island parkway off the 401 between Toronto and Montreal.)

Tomorrow I will post photos of the two structures as they stand completed, and also post shots of the inside stone ceilings of both the beehive and the cabane.

Handy Cap Stone

Graham Watt put a lot of time (nearly four days) and a lot of skilled handiwork into changing the shape of a huge square chunk of limestone into an impressive cone cap for the clochan that StoneFest participants built last week near Seattle Washington. Christopher Barclay another Canadian and several other Americans also put in hours of hand-chiseling on the large white block to coax a geometric curve domed shape out of the stone. The shape had to be the exact dimensions to make a final seamless transition from the dry laid contour of the rest of the hut up to the peek. And it it had to be finished on time to hoist it on to the beehive structure by Friday afternoon.

It was decided that the final surface of the cap stone should be detailed with the shapes of all the hands of those who were involved in this project. Dry stone wallers, carvers and sculptors in stone traced a profile of their hand on the dome and then they, or one of the letter carvers, carefully chiseled each hand print out. The large white limestone capstone ended up looking like everyone had put their hands into plaster of Paris before it set.

The huge stone was lifted on to the stone hut using a large Caterpillar with a massive mechanical claw, and with the help of many more hands it was eventually lowered into place. Professional sculptor John Fisher is seen here using one hand to guide the stone down onto its final landing spot on the top of the clochan. The 'handy' capstone proved not to be a handicap at all, in terms of finishing the race towards having this magnificent beehive hut project completed in time.

Higher Hands.

All the 'hands' had a great day today. The weather cooperated and the atmosphere on-site was charged with energy. Five of us created this Scottish-type dry stone cairn north of Whitby Ontario and enjoyed every minute of it. After 5 days of working on it ,on and off over the last two weeks, we finished the structure at 5:30 on Thursday May 6th. (a bit too late to take the scaffolding down until tomorrow)

The fieldstone was all found locally around the perimeter of the golf course property. There was lots of hand lifting and fitting and hearting and measuring. The width at the base is 10 feet. The width at the top is 5 feet. The cairn is a whopping 14 feet 4 inches high. It was really exhilarating to build such an unusual feature. It required a combination of vision, confidence, cooperation and structural knowhow. Special recognition goes to Peter, Steve, Craig, Corrie, Joe, and especially Wilson for doing their part in making this towering 'celebration in stone'.

The Task at Hand

We had a meeting today with a number of people involved with the DSWAC who are all still very much interested in promoting the quality and type of dry stone activities our organization has made available here in Canada for the last ten years. It was gratifying to have such a positive enthusiastic group together and to find ourselves in agreement about certain key issues.

Our decision to continue to maintain our direction while better establishing the status of 'association' is based on our enthusiasm for the craft with all its creative opportunities rather than thinking we need to 'prove' something to those watching from the sidelines. We realized that we all were motivated by the same love of what we do, walling, and the genuine desire to see more people develop skills and find creative opportunities here in Canada without taking on any unnecessary trappings.

The process right from the beginning of our coming together as an organization has been a refreshing mix of experimentation combined with the knowledge acquired through good teaching, hands-on practice and a focused application of walling principles which are consistent with our unique Canadian geographic, economic and historical circumstances. We will of course continue to encourage any members interested in accreditation to make use of the excellent DSWA of UK examination program which provides testing here in Canada every year at our annual dry stone wall festival in October

Many of us are committed to supporting a Canadian movement, which while respecting past traditions and bonds, continues to find new avenues for pursing the art of building with stone without mortar and will be looking ahead to have those who work with dry laid stone (whether within the landscape trades or any other associations) unified in the task at hand, by emphasizing the enjoyment in doing what we do, rather than finding fault with others who for whatever reason do it differently.