Everything came together beautifully in the running of the 2nd annual Northumberland Dry Stone Wall Festival held on the Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend in Port Hope Ontario. At times it definitely had the feel of a real Medieval festival. The number of people turning out to see , and in many cases participate in, the dry stone walling events which were organized for 2005 , increased significantly from last year. The main focus was the building of a dry stone Victorian folly on the property of Hill and Dale , Bed and Breakfast, situated on several picturesque acres, right in Port Hope.
The gothic arched structure which was started and completed over the three day holiday weekend was built to complement the existing dry stone bridge built last year. The crew that assembled to work on the folly were masterful men and women from several countries, whose skills all seemed to flow together in a kind of dry stone jazz improvisation, to make an amazing permanent garden pavilion, in the form of a dry stone ruin.
From Switzerland, an exceptional waller, Dieter Schneider joined us to help in the construction. From the United States, Chuck Eblacker, having recently earned his advanced craftsman certification, contributed significantly to our folly structure. Scottish dry stone expert, Norman Haddow who helped us last year build Springdale bridge, was on hand to encourage everyone and help in the construction. From Canada, talented dry stone wallers Robin Thornrose, Hillary Martin and John Storm joined in to add their expertise. And of course, we were very pleased to have internationally recognized artist, Dan Snow join the festivities, injecting the whole project with his creative input.
The completed stone folly is delightfully reminiscent of the Cistercian monasteries in Europe many of which have been destroyed (or dissolved, as the English so elegantly put it) with only the bare outlines of the structure left over. We are calling the folly "Vestiges" , as it best describes this aspect of something having remnants of the past, with only traces of structures long vanished. The outlines of former lives, former habits, former customs all just described by crumbling walls clinging to some fragile verticality.
Elsewhere in Port Hope, gatherings of students assembled on Saturday and Sunday to learn the craft of building dry stone walls, being taught this year by John Shaw-Rimmington and Matthew Ring. A 75 foot section of beautiful wall was just about completed over the weekend , at the residence of local council member John Moran . So many people moving so much material! It was a bit like a barn raising. And back at the main festival site, wallers were being tested for their intermediate certification.
Special thanks to Fred, Deborah and Julian, the musicians who came, dressed in period costume , and played so sensitively as we constructed the folly. Thanks too, to the Evening Guide staff, Evelyn Cream and Linda Eerme for the fantastic brochure design, all the people who helped move the 60 ton of stone on to the sites , those who ran the film night and the book tables and prepared and served lunches for everyone.
A final thank you to the many people of Port Hope and well beyond, who presence helped to create that wonderful feeling of a medieval market fair.
