1 Jun 2021

Volunteer skills in action at Inverewe

A man is standing behind a drystone wall and is carrying out repairs to it.

Volunteer Graham Proctor demonstrating his drystone walling skills

Regular estate volunteer Graham Proctor has been carefully repairing and restoring a section of drystone wall between the car park and the wildlife hide, ready for the start of the new season.

Inverewe estate has around 1,000 metres of drystone walling, some of historical value, which forms a significant feature in the landscape. It’s quite an art to construct and repair such walls, as the stones used in them vary in size and shape, and so the neatness of the existing walls is testament to the skill of those who originally built them. But from time to time they do collapse, for example due to tree root movement.

Last winter, under the supervision of Inverewe team member Aidan Bell, Graham carefully took back a section of the wall to remove all the loose stone. He then reconstructed it, ensuring that each stone was carefully placed and secure.

A man is standing next to a drystone wall. There is a yellow bucket on the ground next to him.

A man is holding an irregularly shaped stone above a drystone wall.

There are many styles of drystone walling, but our wall consists of two outer skins, which are battered towards the top, filled with hearting (small stones in the middle) and topped with coping stones. This is a great example of continuing to support traditional heritage skills, which enables our talented volunteers like Graham to have a sense of ownership and achievement from their work, as well as contributing to caring for this special landscape.