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.

Hand Delivery

DSWA secretary Alison Shaw met with her Canadian counterpart Mary Harris in the lounge of the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel to discuss new DSWA books and dry stone literature that we will be taking back to Canada to make available at our 2010 walling events. Alison has done a great job for the DSWA for some time now and has ran a very tight ship for them. We have been able to order a lot of very good dry stone literature from her over the last 8 years of our association. This time the walling books will be 'hand- delivered'.

Along with professional waller George Eddington and National Trust trail builder Gavin Rose, dry stone artist Andy Loudon also joined us for a social drink. Discussions turned to differing walling techniques and career opportunities in Britain and Canada.

Andy shared some interesting asides about working with well-known artist Andy Goldsworthy on the Tilberthwaithe Sheepfold.

Alison tells us the DSWA is gearing up to host the 12th International Congress on Dry Stone Walling September 4-6 in Ambleside Cumbria. This year's theme will be 'Dry Stone Walls as part of the Cultural Landscape'

Ambleside is a beautiful town right in the middle of Cumbria and has many dry stone walls.

We walked Ambleside today and posted this from Esquires, a Starbucks like coffee shop with a view overlooking all the old slate stone buildings.

The secret handshake or the secret cold shoulder ?

While we might wonder what the secret Masonic handshake actually is, we understand that it was developed as a way masons could recognize and show 'respect' for each other, without necessarily speaking. ( The 'nonspeaking' part didn't imply that they didn't like each other ! ) The handshakes were a way for those who worked in stone to express their solidarity with other masons. As part of these perhaps antiquated rituals, secret handshakes allowed masons to express fraternity and above all 'friendship'.

 When a mason apprenticed with a skilled Freemason, that mason would teach him a secret handshake, reflective of the degree of learning the apprentice mason acquired. When the mason traveled for work and gave another foreman the secret handshake, that person would know that the apprentice had learned a certain degree of masonry skill (along with the appropriate handshake) from his instructor.

Presumably these masons saw it was important to acknowledge from whence and whom they acquired much of their knowledge. It was not right to pretend they arrived at their level of skill and method of construction without any other mason's help or learned what they did without being associated with any organization along the way. Unfortunately this may not be the case anymore. Competitiveness amongst masons is not necessarily a bad thing, however to refuse to give reference to those one has learned from or been helped by in ones acquiring of those skills, belies a basic fault which is likely to 'show up' in other ways later on, not only in their work but in their character too.

I tend to think that the stones in the wall will hold together to the degree that the person who builds it recognizes the responsibility he has in valuing and maintaining the freindships he has with those who have helped him along the way in his craft. 

To that end it is only right to make sure the contriving of contentious and rivalrous factions amidst the community of wallers here in Canada is discouraged amidst those of us who seek to continue cooperating with one another to build not only 'walls without mortar ' but also without hostility.