A Cumbrian firm is helping to keep the tradition of dry-stone walling alive.
Burlington Stone, which owns four Lake District slate quarries, has renewed an agreement with the Dry-Stone Walling Association (DSWA), which has its national headquarters are at the Westmorland Showground, near Kendal.
The agreement sees the firm supply Burlington slate from its Kirkby Moor Quarry for use in the association’s onsite training programmes and as a core material in dry stone walls all over the countryside.
It is estimated that there are approximately 200,000 km of dry-stone walls in the UK but only a small percentage of these are in good condition, with many
in an advanced stage of decay or dereliction.
The association, nationally and through its network of local branches, runs training courses throughout the year to make sure the skills required to maintain and build new walls are passed down to the next generation of dry-stone wallers.
Kate Dymock, training and education co-ordinator at the association, said: “Kirkby Moor Slate is used extensively in the construction of dry-stone walls, both in Cumbria and further afield.
“Its naturally flat bedded characteristics lends itself to wall construction with a varied selection of sizes and plenty of long stones from which to make through-stones and copings – both essential elements when constructing a solid and strong dry-stone wall.
“The association is very grateful to Burlington Stone for supplying us with Kirkby Moor Slate with which to develop our national training site at Crooklands. It is fair to say that without the help of Burlington Stone, our training programmes in the craft would not be as successful as they are.
“We are very proud to be in partnership with Burlington Stone and their slate is as much an iconic part of the Cumbrian landscape as the dry-stone walls that populate it.”
Burlington Stone’s founder, William Cavendish, the 7th Duke of Devonshire and 2nd Earl of Burlington (1808 to 1891), was the great-great-grandfather of current association president Lord Cavendish of Furness.
