Thanks to a grant from the Rural Skills Hub, the Friends had a very different type of day in the park – learning the skills of dry stone walling.
Although the Heaton Moor Park has no free-standing dry stone walls as you find gracing the hills of the Peak District, a number of retaining walls of various heights wend their way around the east side of the park.
Master Craftsman Andy Loudon from the Dry Stone Walling Association (DWSA) guided the group to first dismantle a wall and then rebuild it. Over the two Saturdays in April, a section of a wall near the centre isle and a section near the pavilion were treated to a make-over.
The Rural Skills Hub also provided some tools and some extra stone (always referred to as stone, never rock!). For more information about the organisations who helped with this project, see
Dry Stone Walling Association
Rural Skills Hub
