Parmelee Farm hosts successful wall building workshop

On October 31, 2009 sixteen hardy individuals gathered at the Parmelee Farm for a weekend of hard physical labor and determined cooperative effort to learn the craft of dry stone wall building from experts Dan Snow and Andrew Pighills. The first in what is hoped to be a series of educational programs to be held at the farm, the dry stone walling workshop gave participants the opportunity to learn at their own pace and refine their skills commensurate with their level of experience. Under a threatening sky and light drizzle workshop students listened intently as Mr. Snow and Mr. Pighills presented the fundamental principles of dry stone wall building. They then charged ahead under Dan and Andrew’s direction, using the available stone on hand, salvaged from the previous wall to create the wall pictured above.

As the weather cleared the wall began to take shape. Starting with the large foundation stones nestled into their 12” deep gravel footings the wall rose two feet by the end of day 1 and a unified structure began to emerge. Participants worked together often in groups, sometimes alone, while Andrew and Dan scuttled between them with instruction and watchful eyes. By midday of Day 2 the wall was 3 feet high and tapering elegantly upward but doubts were cast as to whether or not it would be completed by the end of the day. Dan and Andrew picked through the rock piles selecting suitable stones with which to cap the wall and with all hands on deck, including the instructors’, the 60’ long wall was completed by 4:00 pm.