Dry stone walling career

[Drystoning]

Hi,

This is my first post. I've become quite interested in dry stone walling recently from watching various videos, reading about the history of it etc. I like outdoor physical work and would like to contribute to the heritage of our landscape. Can anyone give me some advice on some or all of the following?

Is there much demand for dry stone wallers in or around the Midlands? (Staffs, Shropshire, Southern Peak District, East Wales, Herefordshire, Worcestershire) This could be residential or agricultural.
What is the expected timescale to become a dry stone waller and go into business?
What do the hours tend to be like? Is it all-consuming or do you tend to be able to do other things on the side? (like farm part time?)
What is the potential income when experienced? Not bothered about getting rich or anything, just would like to have a comfortable living.

Thank you to anyone who can contribute.

 

[Cowmansam]

Think there was someone advertising a job doing this Other week on here

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Why not do an apprenticeship as a bricklayer? Do dry stone walling too, that way you would have more than one string to your bow, if work became quiet. Many years ago, I reviewed an apprentice bricklayer working in my area doing a cracking job dry stone walling on the entrance to the Botanic Gardens. Maybe do a bit of lime work as well?

 

[michael N123]

Come to Cumbria there’s loads of stewardship work and no one to put it up

 

[Drystoning]

Why not do an apprenticeship as a bricklayer? Do dry stone walling too, that way you would have more than one string to your bow, if work became quiet. Many years ago, I reviewed an apprentice bricklayer working in my area doing a cracking job dry stone walling on the entrance to the Botanic Gardens. Maybe do a bit of lime work as well?

Unfortunately I dont think an apprenticeship would suit me as i dont think the wage would pay my bills, rent etc. Would like to run some sheep and cattle alongside it if possible, so perhaps split the time 50/50 between the 2?

 

[upnortheast]

Think your best bet would be to find an experienced waller & work & learn from him.

If you turn out to be a decent waller you will never be short of work.

The big money will be in urban gardens but plenty of agric walls to go at

 

[Tubbylew]

Home - Dry Stone Walling Association

www.dswa.org.uk

 

[Hilly]

Total shortage of dykers up here. You could easily clear a grand a week if you were willing to put a shift in but the stone is sh!t the weather is sh!t ! But I’d say the work is their .

 

[egbert]

I'm not sure you're in the right area....

however...
OK, firstly, few farmers would let you loose on major works without seeing what your skills are like.
So you'd likely need to get your experience either with an established waller, as mentioned, or get some practise in with the garden wall job - most of em wouldn't know the difference, and the work doesn't have to contain determined hill ewes.

Rates? You're almost certain to find yourself self-employed. PAYE work as a waller would be very unusual.
If you're of any cop, expect - round here anyway- £15-20 an hour.
There would be those who could charge more, and plenty who'll, when 'pricing' for a job, work it out, then rush the job to enhance their hourly rate.
(Funnily enough, I try not to employ someone on those terms... I agree an hourly rate, and set them to it)

When looking at your potential income, remember that the winter months can be savage for walling in the hills.
Hence, suggestions to look at other -aligned- skills are spot on. Hedging used to be fairly common for winter work.

Be aware that, for us funding the work.....
We often earn a good deal less per hour - but can probably build A1 wall.
We can get a very good stock fence put up for maybe less than £10, while the labour alone on a walling job might well be many times that.
The grants alluded to - in my case- leave a shortfall of tens of ££££ per meter.
I'm explaining this before other bright sparks start on about how much a skilled man should earn.
Walling at commercial level on farms is fraught with ££££ obstacles.

That said, it's a beautiful craft if you've the eye, there's tonnes of work, and gov is likely to continue to throw money at it.

 

[egbert]

What our team have been up to of late

 

[BBC]

The cotswolds AONB run various courses and I am sure there are also other rural skills course providers around the UK.

Rural Skills Training

Get involved with rural skills Rural skills like dry stone walling, hedgelaying, coppicing, charcoaling, blacksmithing, horse-logging, spinning and weaving, stone carving, and green woodworking are all woven together with the history of the landscape. Skills such as dry stone walling...

www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk

Speak to the Dry Stone Walling Association?

There is certainly plenty of work round here judging by how difficult it is to get someone. Know of one big estate near here where two wallers have been kept busy for the last year rebuilding parts of the estate wall and have built miles of walls over the last few years there.

 

[BBC]

Rebuilding job we did a couple of years ago done by a local Waller and his 24 year old son, who is the fourth generation of stone Waller. Finished height is about 8ft as bottom third is below field level.

In addition to reusing quite a lot of the stripped out stone from the old wall, it needed a further 40 tonnes of new stone. Hard work at that height and at times temperatures were hitting over 80 degrees ....

 

[Guleesh]

What our team have been up to of late

Some horrible big lumps of rock in that wall, I've done a bit of walling myself so appreciate how tricky it is to try and make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
Top job.

 

[egbert]

I see sedimentary stone in walls and sigh!
mind, then i see the dykes in dumfries, built of effing great marbles, and thank my lucky stars!

 

[Ffermer Bach]

What our team have been up to of late

that looks a cracking job

 

[Drystoning]

I'm not sure you're in the right area....

however...
OK, firstly, few farmers would let you loose on major works without seeing what your skills are like.
So you'd likely need to get your experience either with an established waller, as mentioned, or get some practise in with the garden wall job - most of em wouldn't know the difference, and the work doesn't have to contain determined hill ewes.

Rates? You're almost certain to find yourself self-employed. PAYE work as a waller would be very unusual.
If you're of any cop, expect - round here anyway- £15-20 an hour.
There would be those who could charge more, and plenty who'll, when 'pricing' for a job, work it out, then rush the job to enhance their hourly rate.
(Funnily enough, I try not to employ someone on those terms... I agree an hourly rate, and set them to it)

When looking at your potential income, remember that the winter months can be savage for walling in the hills.
Hence, suggestions to look at other -aligned- skills are spot on. Hedging used to be fairly common for winter work.

Be aware that, for us funding the work.....
We often earn a good deal less per hour - but can probably build A1 wall.
We can get a very good stock fence put up for maybe less than £10, while the labour alone on a walling job might well be many times that.
The grants alluded to - in my case- leave a shortfall of tens of ££££ per meter.
I'm explaining this before other bright sparks start on about how much a skilled man should earn.
Walling at commercial level on farms is fraught with ££££ obstacles.

That said, it's a beautiful craft if you've the eye, there's tonnes of work, and gov is likely to continue to throw money at it.

When you say I'm not in the right area, do you mean geographyically? wouldnt there be much call for it in any of the places i mentioned?

 

[Guleesh]

I see sedimentary stone in walls and sigh!
mind, then i see the dykes in dumfries, built of effing great marbles, and thank my lucky stars!

About 18 years ago my brother and I went to look at a job near Dornie, to repair and rebuild an old wall round a walled garden of a big house, the stones were literally spherical, I've no idea how the existing wall had lasted as long as it had.

We made our excuses and left....

 

[egbert]

When you say I'm not in the right area, do you mean geographyically? wouldnt there be much call for it in any of the places i mentioned?

I don't know the area well.... would the Peak district be a likely source of employment ?

 

[neilo]

When I were a lad.....
all the ‘proper’ farmers round home were selling the stone from the walls off to finance putting stock proof wire fencing up instead. A much better job.

Now, all the landed gentry in the Cotswolds are buying stone in and paying people handsomely to make the walls look nice round their arable prairies.

It’s a funny old world.

 

[egbert]

About 18 years ago my brother and I went to look at a job near Dornie, to repair and rebuild an old wall round a walled garden of a big house, the stones were literally spherical, I've no idea how the existing wall had lasted as long as it had.

We made our excuses and left....

I stay with a pal near Dalbeattie, and the 'dykes' are built using spherical things from 12" - 24" diameter, and a big hammer to crack some for (what we'd call) trigs-wedges- is the most important tool.
To be fair, it's strong wall once it's properly built.