Congratulations to Trish Waite and Gregor Smart of CSB for taking part in DSWA's 50th Anniversary Walling Competition

Fourteen members attended this event at Huntingtower Hotel to meet Ian Dewar again and honour his energy, breadth of vision and long commitment to dry stone walling.

August 18th and 19th saw the branch walling at Burmieston in Perthshire.  This coincided with a cooler and on day two wetter moments in our amazing summer.

Early in the year the branch was approached about becoming involved in an exciting new venture: Cairnbrae Eco-burial site near Kellas. This project is the vision of Alma Kettles, whose family farm nearby. 

GREAT NEWS: Central Scotland has won the DSWA Large Branch of the Year Award.

It was icers for Billy, John and Iain this weekend as they headed for RM Condor, the home of the 45 Commando Group, to carry out repairs to the whin stone wall within the Woodlands Garden.

With the snow behind us and the clocks ahead, Spring finally felt like it had arrived as we returned to The Japanese Gardens at Cowden Castle.

Just a short note to let you know that my Nomination to be a Trustee of the DSWA has been accepted and I will become a Trustee at the AGM in March 18.

Richard Love talks to Farming Today's Nancy Nicolson on Radio Four in 4, highlighting the worrying lack of skilled craftsmen and women, particularly in Scotland, able to meet the growing demand for building and maintaining dry stone walls. 

The end of the year was marked with the AGM which was held in Luncarty Church hall.  After a delicious soup, sandwich and cake lunch the group got down to business.

In our first post from the Historic Japanese Gardens at Cowden Castle we looked at the history of the gardens and our work to restore the original spillway's retaining wall. This time we've returned in October to tackle the large causeway which runs along the lake's East bank.

Our second last event of 2017 saw us heading West to St Fillans Golf Course for a one day event. We were asked to build a dry stone bench to commemorate Bert Morrison, a long time member of the course who lived on the grounds and was well loved by the club.

It was another superb event at Cambo Estate this weekend. While Stuart and Billy took the beginners training course, Gregor and Malcolm were tasked with building a short section of wall at the newly renovated stable block.

It was another beautiful day at Castlandhill House, one of our favourite locations on the CSDSWA calendar.

One of the things I enjoy most about volunteering with the CSDSWA is the stunning Scottish landscapes we get to visit. Morton of Pitmilly Countryside Resort, just outside Kingsbarns St Andrews, was no exception.

This year I’ve been very aware of how fortunate we are to live where we do. When setting the programme of events we aim to cover a range of locations and types of stone, as well as varied work in these beautiful and interesting places.

South Mains farm was a first for the branch. Daan Kiezebrink was formerly a member of CSB, but other projects had come along – not least the farm itself, and he had not been able to keep walling. Now he and Kirsty find themselves owners of a farm with many metres of walls in need to repair and we were delighted when we were approached about helping.

The sun shone! Not too often the case at Drummond, but as always events organised by Willie are good fun as well as a great learning experience.