Considering a Stone Wall Building Course?
If you enjoy construction and DIY, a stone wall building course may be ideal for you. The course will teach you all about the construction industry and how to build a traditional stone wall. The course has been designed to provide the construction industry with personnel who are skilled in traditional stonewall construction. The overall aim of the course is to provide students with the relevant skills and knowledge in traditional stone wall construction to develop their personal effectiveness, attitudes and job seeking skills to enable them to obtain employment as construction operatives within the building industry.
About Stone Wall Building
Dry stone walls are synonymous with the Irish upland and rural landscape features. It is estimated that the Irish countryside has more than 400,000 km of dry stone walls, and 210,000 km of stone-earthen banks. Ireland has approximately 60% more stone earthen banks and 25% more dry stone walls than the next closest countries in Europe. Dry stone walling has undergone a resurgence in popularity in Ireland as a result of the perseverance of a small number of farmers and the re-engagement with it by others. As a result of the teaching of the craft by what was a very small number of dedicated masons.
The building of dry stone walls is a long-standing tradition in rural farming. It dates back to the Neolithic Period. There was also a time professional dry stone wallers travelled across the country, as well as over and back from Ireland to England, Scotland and Wales. Most walls on estates and larger farms were built by these skilled craft workers as far back as the medieval period. The longest continuous length of dry stone wall in Ireland and Britain. The Mourne Wall in county Down is a great example of this. Common stones used in Ireland include granite, sandstone and limestone.
What Will I Learn?
You will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the construction industry environment and practice the safe manual handling techniques and correct operation procedures for small plant and machinery. Students will be able to identify, select, sketch and build stone walls using a variety of different traditional styles and describe the evolution of stone craft in Irish architecture. The course will teach you how to construct a range of walling using block and brick, operate, maintain and protect a range of construction equipment and plant. Learners will be able to erect a single lift of scaffolding in an efficient and safe manner, provide a quality service to tradesmen in an efficient and safe manner and plan and achieve realistic work goals. The course will teach you to build a range of complex stone walls from plans and estimate the cost of materials for finishing a project from a given set of drawings and you will be able to demonstrate a broad range of occupational competencies in a real work environment.
Career Opportunities
Successful completion of this programme will allow graduates to work within the construction sector, building stonewalls using numerous different traditional styles and methods. A skilled dry stone waller or mason will never have trouble finding work. There continues to be a high demand for dry stone work and in general.
Career Progression
If you completed your stone wall building course and would like to learn more to enhance and improve your skill set, there is always room to progress. You could do a general course in construction, in construction site safety, in DIY or in construction management.
If you’re serious about doing a stone wall building course, check out courses near you in the Nightcourses.co.uk national course finder.
