Yorkshire Crafts: Meet the drystone wallers

[@helengrant3475]

I could listen to that chap all day, he's well spoken

[@tyronwheatley2306]

His voice was music to my ears

[@lairddougal3833]

Note the absence of moronic fillers in his delivery. No ‘likes’, no ‘you knows’, just clear understandable statements. I counted a single ‘um’. This should be shown to every school kid as an example of good communication.

[@ForkOffjewgle]

He's a product of a functioning education system

[@seanseoltoir]

There are a lot of different accents in the UK... Some are easily understood and others are quite difficult... It's really surprising that they can have so many noticeably different accents so close to each other in such a small country...

[@kevdimo6459]

There’s not much better than watching a master craftsman plying his trade, and creating something so unique and beautiful! 👍🏼👍🏼

[@siggyincr7447]

As impressive as the craft of dry waling is, this man has a talent for narration and story telling that is what really caught my attention.

[@nofurtherwest3474]

He has a soothing voice

[@fulop._.szilard3000]

Wanted to highlite the same, its so important to chose the right narrator for these kind of shows/documentaries. He did an excellent job of describing the history and process...u just watch the whole thing even if, even if u arent interested.

[@libertyvilleguy2903]

Love this kind of thing. Centuries old craft, still being kept alive by a quiet, dedicated, humble hardworking few. Well done men.

[@fredfred6296]

most original walls were built by women...

[@BodywiseMustard]

​@@fredfred6296They're clearly referring to the fellows in the video.

[@jonb12321]

? You're indoctrinatec or have some non-truth agenda. I live in Yorks, do some dry walling, it's physically hard, women never did it apart from helping out, most dry walls we see today were built by gangs of men around the time of the Enclosure Acts.

[@illbeyourmonster5752]

@@fredfred6296 Sadly, most claims about women tend to turn out to be more false than true these days.

[@Philitron128]

​@@fredfred6296Where did you read that?

[@bmedicky]

The waller is as articulate in explaining the craft as he is skilled in actually laying the stones. A marvellous little film.

[@nikita3.14]

I'm not a native speaker but hell do I enjoy listening to him. I think it's the best spoken English I've heard for quite a while. He should do narrative work.

[@bernardhill1622]

Indeed ❗👏🏻👍🏻🙇‍♂️

[@42lookc]

The serenity he speaks of comes right through in his voice and mannerisms. He really has found his niche in life.

[@johnduffy6546]

Amen.

[@stephenbrown571]

This man would be a good narrator for historical documentary.

[@JH-lo9ut]

Yeah probably. But there are a lot of narrators but not so many people who knows how to build dry stone walls.

[@ronniechilds2002]

As an American tourist in Northern England, I had the good luck to attend an agricultural fair, out in the middle of nowhere. One of the events was an in situ dry stone wall building demonstration. Believe it or not, a lot of technology goes into building these magnificent structures. The two sides are leaning slightly inwards, each side constantly trying to fall into the other, using gravity to hold the opposite up. As he said, some of these walls are truly ancient. In certain places they are many hundreds of years old and still doing their job. Amazing.

[@secondhandlyon2603]

What's cool is that here in Kentucky we still build these in the same way. Our ancestors carried the technique across the Atlantic and kept it alive to today. Nice work.

[@PetroicaRodinogaster264]

there is always one of you from there that has to brag, so self absorbed.

[@uncouthboy8028]

There are far more stone walls that have been swallowed up than are visible in Kentucky.

[@uncouthboy8028]

@@PetroicaRodinogaster264 What a resentful thing to write.

[@bravo2966]

@@PetroicaRodinogaster264 What you think you are saying to them, you are actually saying about yourself. What a horrible self obsessed comment you've written.

[@bravo2966]

It's great to hear these walls made it across the Atlantic. I live near the North York Moors and see these walls pretty much every day.

[@lorrainemclay3343]

Brilliant work. I am so glad l had the opportunity to see such master craftsmen/ women working. Marvellous explanations. Thank you 👏👏🖐😃🇭🇲👏👏

[@OFmissleanalee]

I live in Arkansas, USA and we have these everywhere! Lots of traditions came from other parts of the world. I’ve learned to build them to some degree myself on my land!

[@paulnicholson1906]

I grew up in Derbyshire and took care of things with my dad. He taught me stone walling but we called it gapping. Basically it was repairing where a wall had collapsed and needed building back up again to keep the cows in etc. That was pretty common. A few years ago I was visiting and when taking a walk along a road I saw a wall that needed a bit of attention so I couldn't help myself but put it right again. This guy doesn't have much of a Yorkshire accent if you ask me but his enthusiasm for the "art" makes up for it.

[@the_millwright]

My dad loves sharing the story of when he first started driving in Somerset and lost control on a corner and took out a dry stone wall just as the mason was putting the final stones in. My grandfather made him go back the next day, and for the week after, to help repair the wall.

[@johnduffy6546]

Dang. THIS is how things should be. Your grandfather was a wise man and a great role model....Man, that just made my day! Thank you for sharing.

[@the_millwright]

@@johnduffy6546 and it rubbed off as my dad taught me the same sense of responsibility, and I’m teaching it to my two boys.

[@seeharvester]

And now you're all stone masons.

[@CastleHassall]

i hope you all learned to drive more slowly on bends in the road too!!!

[@louisegogel7973]

That is the way! Have people redeem their mistakes and not only does it make things better for all, it gives that person a chance to learn a skill that will serve him or her all their life.

[@threeriversforge1997]

Culture is the collection of a million little things you do every day, and dry stone walls are a perfect example of that. If you don't support your craftsmen, these glorious walls are what you lose. Of course, supporting the craftsmen is about more than just hiring someone to put up a wall because it's the laws, regulations, taxes and everything else we support which has a huge impact on the small businesses we normally pay no attention to. Everyone talks about the straw that broke the camel's back, but never the million straws that came before and how they prevented the camel from doing camel things.

[@welshman100]

As nice as a job it is and looks, when he said there were complaints about them at first. I can imagine so, what those beautiful rolling hills looked like without them... must have been stunning.

[@dabroncobabe]

Fell in love with those gorgeous walls when I was in England and just saw a beautiful one in Tennessee!!

[@dougtheviking6503]

True craftsmanship! hello from the U.S.A. Beautiful work

[@onlineidentity6826]

This brings back wonderful memories for me. As a kid in Derbyshire dry stone walls were everywhere also, and my great grandfather’s house had a dry stone wall around it ! Great times. Thank you.

[@Hashashin_Fidayin]

Beautiful work, Master craftsmen! Thankyou for sharing their expertise!

[@Tyrfingr]

I have to admit that, the squeeze through was really marvelously built. So elegant, it does go naturally with the landscape.

[@thomashiggins4923]

Utterly absorbing - like the comment below, I could listen to that man for hours, he explains everything so well. I live in Burgundy in France, and have dry stone walls on my property that need some upkeep. Actually, that's something of an understatement. I still hope to be able to do the work myself at some point, and this little video has inspired me. Many thanks, Tom.

[@Dancing_Alone_wRentals]

By the time he stepped through the squeeze stone, I was in awe of their patience, strength, and skills.

[@BC-yd6dl]

I watched a video about hedge laying and now these dry stone walling videos are also in my feed. I love it.

[@marymathis9299]

It's so gratifying to see this kind of art continuing today!!! Here in the USA, if it's a few decades old, it's considered REALLY old, but there...ha!! Well, you get my meaning? There, across the pond, it's just life as it's always been. That's a comfort to me. Love seeing this brought out in such lovely detail. Love the craftsman that revealed it all for us! Thanks so much! ❤❤❤

[@NutsinMay185]

I visited friends in Olympia, Seattle and they pointed out an 'ancient' bridge almost 100 years old. Couldn't help replying' I've got older underpants than that'. Love my American friends, but I treasure our heritage that goes back centuries. As I write I can see Nottingham Castle (former home of the Sheriff) on the skyline about 3 miles away. All the best from England

[@marshallferron]

I fell in love with the Yorkshire landscape and these walls as a kid watching Last of the Summer Wine on PBS

[@sme_sage1241]

Thank you for this very interesting video. The walls are a beautiful piece of art dotting the landscape. 👏👏👏

[@primelightfilmsltd1803]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@abdirisakdirie3124]

​ ​ If some body or animal bush the Dry stone wall is it collapsed

[@cho4d]

@@abdirisakdirie3124 it is strong! dry stone construction can sometimes last longer than mortar construction because mortar can fail over time. these walls are naturally stable and heavy enough to last 100 years.

[@LukeLongboneOfficial]

Brother there ain’t a stone mason to be found here in the States that can talk as proper as that fella. Especially in the rural areas (the dales). Impressive craftsmanship and a great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@serendipity1046]

Nothing better in this crazy world than watching and listening to a true craftsman

[@jimmartin7437]

Wow dude. Your calling, if not a waller, should have been a teacher. My grand kids would understand the basics of walling after this video. Well done.

[@redwarf8118]

ok dude

[@louisegogel7973]

Have they seen the video yet? Let us know what they think of it, please.

[@dougbennett9685]

This is quite a refreshing look into enduring fruits of the dry stone wall craft

[@TheJrak47]

I’m obsessed with Masonary stonework just incredible works of art just mesmerized by the workmanship

[@brianwhite9555]

Monuments to man's ingenuity. Turning a free resource, stone, into a functional component of the landscape. Marvelous!

[@danielclark2972]

😊

[@andrewburbury2261]

Most informative, the presenter was very well spoken and outlined the craft very well to make it easy to understand. Thank you so much

[@eladlutz]

True craftsmen can hardly put into words their appreciation for these skills, work done right is it's own reward !

[@StroMedia]

Hats off to the wallers! And to those who recognized and filmed these craftsmen. Thank you!

[@carlos1rsa]

Just love the way he speaks. A true Englishman.

[@thestoneforestchannel]

Excellent work.... I am a stonemason and I also rebuild very old stone walls. Greetings from a stonemason, from Barcelona.

[@PieterBreda]

Brilliant story teller. That man is a natural.

[@TheLandyfan]

What a perfect short, sweet, yet fantastic video. Thank you for that.

[@stephenrice4554]

Magnificent walls , effective , of the place where they are , longer lasting than anything bar hedgerow. Great job . 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@denjhill]

Beautiful masonry. Having mostly flat rock to work with must be a joy. Here in northwestern U.S. the stone is glacial till and mostly rounded cobbles and boulders. Makes fitment a serious challenge.

[@DedicatedSpartan]

They do some cutting to get it that flat.

[@drbichat5229]

Very nice work. He has the most soothing British accent I have ever heard

[@robertcorradi8573]

Fantastic... And a terrific commentary. That gentleman has an absolute gift . A natural orator.

[@brettpaterson8042]

So interesting, how great to have a skill and craft like that and apply it to a practical use. 👍

[@decmans]

A wonderful video to understand how this masterpiece of work has been done. Greetings from Germany. 🫡

[@mandynewey7215]

Yorkshire is a beautiful place and the drystone walls and barns add to the beauty. Thank you for this video.

[@ey954]

i don't get it when the waller said that some people says it look ugly.

[@paulreynolds9003]

Fantastic mate, a pleasure to watch you all work .

[@steve-qe7tj]

Very beautiful workmanship, pleasing to the eye as well as practical! All the stones in the fields can be used to border the same fields!!❤️😊

[@jamesdavid7099]

"The mind can go elsewhere".....exactly right. The sign that you've mastered your craft. These types of walls can be found in Ozark county, Missouri, where my family homesteaded.

[@MarSchlosser]

Beauty unto itself. I was raised country in rural Pennsylvania, an area where the farmers' best crop is rocks. They made permanent fences, and there are zigzag walls, where colonists put in rail fences, laying rails on rails without any binding for miles, followed by stone after the forests were removed. When learning walling, my father and uncles were adamant. If you can lay a good dry wall, you can build a house. When I moved to Arizona, one thing I did was hire someone to haul in rubble, and am still in the process of building retainer walls. thank you for this film. It takes me back to working with Dad and the uncles, laughing, joking, and maybe cussing a little. niio

[@louisegogel7973]

❤❤❤

[@michaeloxlarge4345]

What a briliant tradie, any aprentice trained by this man is surley lucky

[@skipstewart9376]

What a great video, and what a great group of people to carry on a tradition!

[@johnallen7807]

Fantastic craftsmanship! My very first job was a trainee QS on the M62 and we had a gang of wallers, a real pleasure to watch.

[@matiasishere1487]

I dig the meditation aspect. Making badass things with our hands is reward like no other.

[@williamwilson2748]

The satisfaction you must get deep down inside when you look at that wall and say I built that with my own two hands must be a awesome feeling

[@carlospinheirotorres9499]

He handsomely captures the concept of 'flow'', the effortless proficiency of a skilled craftsman ❤

[@Chris-ut6eq]

I admire the craftsmanship!

[@gregperez919]

As an American traveling through Ireland, Scotland and the UK, I’ve always been fascinated by these walls found everywhere in the countryside. They do indeed have character. The precision involved is obvious. That why I was curious about this video. It makes sense one needs formal training to do this properly. Not just stack a pile of rocks. Great presentation. Thank you.

[@evennorthug2585]

Beautiful, and strongly presented.

[@artlein]

Thanks so much for this video! Very informative, wonderful narration, great to know that this custom has not faded away. ♥

[@louisegogel7973]

🟤⚪️⬛️🟠⬜️🟡🟫🔴🟧⚫️◻️🟨 I love Yorkshire and I love building with stone, though I am very much a beginner. There is something so satisfying when you can fit stones snugly together in a pattern or a wall or whatever you are working on. Stones are so varied and are so beautiful to me.

[@simonwalker8300]

What a great short doco, on something i have always admired. Bias perhaps, as my family come from there. Looking forward to learning that skill myself one day.

[@davidgraham2673]

Great video. Somehow i got pulled in. "Just a quick peek, i told myself".... Now i want more.

[@Hope_Boat]

Salutation from a Greek island covered with dry-stone walls.

[@kbkesq]

Are all the trees cut down there too? Amazed how bare the land is in Yorkshire and how they didn’t think to plant even a few trees.

[@JH-lo9ut]

Same on the island Gotland in the Baltic sea. Trees don't grow very tall and wood has always been in short supply. But the whole island is made from a sedimentary limestone that is easy to quarry and easily cut down to size. There are large areas with only a thin layer of topsoil, not fit for agriculture and where only sheep can graze.

[@lawriemorritt3492]

Who would have thought that such a dry subject could be made so interesting by the personality and narration skills of this craftsman

[@arwedgroen]

❤ Aloha 🌺 from Germany. Thank you so much for sharing this "know how" amazing! In northern Germany we do have a lot of little stones of granite... collected from the farmers... I love to build walls in our paradisegarden. 😍🙏

[@lollihonk]

Wow this shows how primitive our "walls" and fences are today. This is true craftmanship. ❤

[@ronaldmansfield.6439]

Still have that feeling to make stone walls it is in my bones. I am from Australia but my ancestors "Mansfields" were from that area. Beautiful work, good workers and a great video.

[@davidhirt9129]

A goof craftsman is a philosopher at heart.

[@juliecumming9243]

Absolutely marvellous. I was thinking of building a small drystone wall in my garden ❤

[@bernardhill1622]

Beautiful work Sir ❗🤔 As a 78year retired Arch' Eng', i took the liberty of teaching myself " Dry Stone Masonry " as late as 1991 to enhance my skills..❗ Hardwork but very stimulating for the Soul..❗🤔 Barrelvault Construction is also one of my favourite construction principals and has been since graduation in 1969 even with recycling of modern high-tech waste material combined with Ferrocement Yacht Building Techniques ( having constructed 4 off in 1973-'76) as cleaning up of the Environment..❗ Keep up the good work ❗👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻 Shalowm ❗🙇‍♂️from " Out of Africa" ❗🍉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇿🇦

[@mystisith3984]

I've always found stone a great material to build things with. Those walls are not ugly in my eyes, they give cadence to the land. What a beautiful country, keep taking care of it. Thanks for sharing.

[@thomasgargano8813]

Don’t you worry about some people calling the walls ugly, I think they looks great! Glad to see that groups like you and your good friends doing a great and wonderful jobs. Keep up the OLD WAYS and do teach this trade to the younger generation,so they can pass this knowledge on, peace and may GOD bless you all.👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺☮️☮️☮️☮️

[@TS-1267]

.... "" 🎉 RESPECT TO THE YORKSHIRE WALLER'S 🏆 THANK YOU ""... Greetings From Bradford West Yorkshire 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿✌️

[@stickshaker101]

A mile of that a year per man is astonishing!

[@kevinsavage808]

I don't know about you, but a mile a year is just 365 days. How many hours and days did they work a month, that in its self is incredible.

[@raypitts4880]

@@kevinsavage808 wake up go there get on with it stay there all day if possible stop walking away from it

[@karlhungus888]

beautiful video. salute to these craftsmen

[@LCdrDerrick]

Rural England is such a beauty, also because of these walls.

[@johnduffy6546]

WOW! How could anyone possibly think these are ugly? They are MAGNIFICENT! The skill, determination and just plain hard work involved makes them a treasured art form! I can easily see where this would be a meditative craft

[@canislatrans8285]

Mid 19th century version of cookie cutter subdivision houses sprawl lol.

[@colintuffs568]

Once came across a gentlemen repairing a wall in Derbyshire. He was well over fifty and i asked him how long he had been walling . His reply was that his eighty five year old father was teaching him !😊

[@SchoolforHackers]

Priceless!

[@louisegogel7973]

Love it!

[@madwhitehare3635]

What a blessing to do what you love doing as a lifelong career.... Hedgelaying, too....a work of art just to look at....

[@YouBazinga]

An amazing craft and a very eloquent chap explaining the construction.

[@Garage_Caster]

What a fantastic passion! Great Video

[@watergal82]

Interesting and beautiful. I'm from New England, where we have the uglier, less cared for brother of these stone walls, the fieldstone wall. They were made from the meeting of two practicalities of life. The fields in New England grow stones more easily than any crop, so farmers needed to remove them to plow, and they needed to have markers between landowners and fences to keep sheep in. Building fences of stones made a useful way to dispose of them without carrying them far. These days the farmers have mostly moved to more fertile areas and the fields are woods. So if you go for a hike, you'll inevitably come across an old, falling down waist height wall.

[@sixtenjohansson4246]

I learned so much from this video. 🥰 Thank you. 😊

[@christopherleblanc9599]

amazing work , true heritage

[@almord9357]

An excellent piece! Bravo!

[@judahbrutus]

Love that accent and way of speaking. Very interesting video as well

[@chiron14pl]

fascinating video on a highly skilled craft, beautiful and practical

[@jamesellsworth9673]

I grew up with much less crafted drystone walls throughout our farmland. The skills shown here are outstanding!

[@sandwich2473]

much better work than an office job, that's for sure

[@tonyfranks9551]

Thank you....I always waned to know the history of these walls....most enjoyable listening to him.

[@rogerdevero8726]

Great Video. Awesome Stone Artwork. God Bless You All - John <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="196">3:16</a>

[@cathmcfarlane-noble2087]

Absolute respect for those working this craft.

[@Ian20232]

Could listen to this chap all day long. Very knowledgeable and clearly spoken. Same as I could (and still do on KZbin) listen to Fred Dibnah.

[@Blue-ff2qv]

Fascinating, and what a narrator and guide!

[@turinhorse4232]

incredible. Admire this as you would the egyptian pyramids. THIS IS YOUR HERITAGE AND CULTURE. protect it

[@curtismarean6963]

It's good to see this ancient craft still alive.

[@vicsaunders9710]

Excellent video 👍👏

[@donaldturner5124]

Humans are creative and skilled problem solvers. The walls are artwork.

[@sitindogmas]

ive had the pleasure of working some "dry stack" here in the US. nice work men !!

[@MrPhotodoc]

One man + one year = one mile. Got it.