Stone Inspired Articles - Stone Inspired

The joys of the season

20 Dec 2018

Well, another year is nearly done and everyone is getting ready to down tools, turn-off their computers, file the last of the paperwork, and head home for a well earned two weeks rest. Well, nearly everyone… The arrival of winter is strange time for me. Eight years ago Scotland was... Read More

2017 – here’s what happened – Biggie Small’s dry stone walls

04 Jan 2018

Life is like a box of chocolates – you just never know what you’re going to get. It’s one of the fun aspects of working for yourself – you never know what work enquiries are going to come your way. This year has been a real mixed bag of big... Read More

My dry stone year – So was 2016 better than 2015?

31 Dec 2016

2015 ended with a six month-long slog on a big dry stone walling job that was miles from my house. The drudgery of the long daily commute was compounded in the final month with a big detour and serious traffic congestion due to the temporary closure of the Forth road... Read More

A hard year of lessons

02 Jan 2016

To be honest, 2015 was a difficult year work-wise. I was definitely spoiled in 2014 with some amazing projects: the Moongate water-feature, the Kirknewton and Dunbar benches and the Recessed Arch were some of the great projects I had. 2015 didn’t work out quite the same… Let me state from the... Read More

Injuries and the pain of working

13 May 2015

I’ve not posted one of my rambling collection of thoughts for a while…so… Despite doing a physical job, lugging rocks about the place, hitting rocks with hammers and chisels and lots of manual handling, I’ve not had any major injuries before. A sore back a couple of times, a sore thumb... Read More

Social Media and the efforts to self-promote

06 Jan 2015

For those of you who know me, I’ve used this web site as my primary source of work since I took up dry stone walling as a professional. My background in web design and web marketing was a big help when I started. Building a web site to showcase my... Read More

2014 Review of dry stone walling projects – July to December

23 Dec 2014

The second half of 2014 was dominated by three big projects plus my first stone building in the USA. July 2014 Edinburgh – Moongate project. By July the Moongate was starting to form. I’d done a big chunk of walling, including making one of the three raised beds, laying a... Read More

Review of dry stone walling projects – January to June 2014

19 Dec 2014

January 2014 West Lothian – grand stair case A winter project building a grand entrance staircase and raised bed and retaining walls. This project would go on intermittently through the first quarter of the year. Dunbar – Dr Badger’s memorial bench After being commissioned to build this memorial bench in... Read More

Unseasonal

25 Jan 2014

Back in October and November the tabloid newspapers were been all doom and gloom about how this winter was going to be the worst on record with plunging temperatures, ice, snow and generally extreme cold. “Winter blast to hit the UK blown in from the Arctic: Forecasters warn of icy... Read More

A review of dry stone walling in 2013 – part 2

22 Dec 2013

After finally finishing the big job in Edinburgh in June, I spent the following three months getting stuck into three fairly decent sized jobs – and doing lots of miles of driving. I shouldn’t complain as it’s good to be busy. July 2013 Scottish Borders – Low retaining walls and... Read More

Review of dry stone walling projects – January to June 2013

20 Dec 2013

2013 has been another busy year. The highlights for the first half of the year were getting through the winter pretty much unscathed – apart from being a very long winter, I was lucky that the jobs I had to do pretty much missed the worst of the snow, and... Read More

Leonardo Lifelong learning Dry Stone Walling project – Spain 2013

18 Oct 2013

I was fortunate to be selected as one of the British wallers to be offered a place on an EU funded cultural exchange programme, called Leonardo. The DSWA has been working with partner organisations in Spain, Italy and France for a couple of years putting together a programme of dry... Read More

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