Yorkshire Crafts: Meet the drystone wallers

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Meet the Yorkshire drystone wallers who build and maintain hundreds of miles of farming boundaries.
David Griffiths shares his passion for drystone walling during re-building work at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

[helengrant]

I could listen to that chap all day, he's well spoken

[bmedicky]

The waller is as articulate in explaining the craft as he is skilled in actually laying the stones. A marvellous little film.

[siggyincr]

As impressive as the craft of dry waling is, this man has a talent for narration and story telling that is what really caught my attention.

[libertyvilleguy]

Love this kind of thing. Centuries old craft, still being kept alive by a quiet, dedicated, humble hardworking few. Well done men.

[lookc]

The serenity he speaks of comes right through in his voice and mannerisms. He really has found his niche in life.

[stephenbrown]

This man would be a good narrator for historical documentary.

[threeriversforge]

Culture is the collection of a million little things you do every day, and dry stone walls are a perfect example of that. If you don't support your craftsmen, these glorious walls are what you lose. Of course, supporting the craftsmen is about more than just hiring someone to put up a wall because it's the laws, regulations, taxes and everything else we support which has a huge impact on the small businesses we normally pay no attention to. Everyone talks about the straw that broke the camel's back, but never the million straws that came before and how they prevented the camel from doing camel things.

[secondhandlyon]

What's cool is that here in Kentucky we still build these in the same way. Our ancestors carried the technique across the Atlantic and kept it alive to today. Nice work.

[the_millwright]

My dad loves sharing the story of when he first started driving in Somerset and lost control on a corner and took out a dry stone wall just as the mason was putting the final stones in. My grandfather made him go back the next day, and for the week after, to help repair the wall.

[Andrew-pmbg]

Art is wonderful. Art with utility is divine!

[charlesgamzehyaavor.]

Very good, sir I always liked them walls I made my steps in front of my home from Indiana stone got a lot of good compliments and it’s very cost-effective you’re so right about the stone find its way through peace out

[Hope_Boat]

Salutation from a Greek island covered with dry-stone walls.

[ronniechilds]

As an American tourist in Northern England, I had the good luck to attend an agricultural fair, out in the middle of nowhere. One of the events was an in situ dry stone wall building demonstration. Believe it or not, a lot of technology goes into building these magnificent structures. The two sides are leaning slightly inwards, each side constantly trying to fall into the other, using gravity to hold the opposite up. As he said, some of these walls are truly ancient. In certain places they are many hundreds of years old and still doing their job. Amazing.

[Dancing_Alone_wRentals]

By the time he stepped through the squeeze stone, I was in awe of their patience, strength, and skills.

[dougtheviking]

True craftsmanship! hello from the U.S.A. Beautiful work

[BC-yddl]

I watched a video about hedge laying and now these dry stone walling videos are also in my feed. I love it.

[colintuffs]

Once came across a gentlemen repairing a wall in Derbyshire. He was well over fifty and i asked him how long he had been walling . His reply was that his eighty five year old father was teaching him !😊

[LukeLongboneOfficial]

Brother there ain’t a stone mason to be found here in the States that can talk as proper as that fella. Especially in the rural areas (the dales). Impressive craftsmanship and a great video. Thanks for sharing.

[paulnicholson]

I grew up in Derbyshire and took care of things with my dad. He taught me stone walling but we called it gapping. Basically it was repairing where a wall had collapsed and needed building back up again to keep the cows in etc. That was pretty common. A few years ago I was visiting and when taking a walk along a road I saw a wall that needed a bit of attention so I couldn't help myself but put it right again. This guy doesn't have much of a Yorkshire accent if you ask me but his enthusiasm for the "art" makes up for it.

[serendipity]

Nothing better in this crazy world than watching and listening to a true craftsman