The first DSWAC dry stone wall workshop of the season was held on Jan 12-13 2008. It was run indoors inside a cozy riding arena on an estate property just north of Port Hope Ontario.
The class began with a thorough instruction session covering basic principles of the walling craft. Here students leaning on the place where they are imagining their new wall will be.
This was followed by two full days of intense hands-on-walling with occasional breaks for socializing and further teaching.
Special lunches were provided off site at the Shaw-Rimmington's and in the evening entertainment included informative documentary videos.
On the second day, as is usual with these "beginner" classes, the students learned how to build a basic arch garden feature, as a small Gothic arch was made to span the two training walls that had already been constructed the day before.