Dry Stone Walling Association - West of Scotland

About Us

The West of Scotland is a registered Scottish charity whose aims are to promote and preserve the craft of dry stone walling within our region. We do this by education in the form of training courses and public demonstrations of our abilities on mainly community projects. Our area covers Argyll & Bute, Renfrewshire, Dunbartonshire, Stirlingshire and the City of Glasgow and its environs

We are also a member branch of the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain whose aims are identical to ours and there are twenty similar branches like us throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

Our members are a mix of males and females and cover the spectrum of ages and professions. They are all graduates of our training programme who wish to develop their knowledge and expertise in more challenging dry stone projects. This eclectic grouping produces a great ‘buzz’ of camaraderie when we get together and provides a very useful base of collective skills to pick from, in solving some of the more intractable problems occasionally encountered in the construction of dry stone features.

We run an annual programme of events consisting of training and projects during the months of March to October. The training courses are for beginners and are very popular. These are held at our training base at Kilbarchan Braes near Bridge of Weir, which also provides for more challenging training in dry stone walling for the more experienced, during our season. We are particularly keen on community projects which can provide variety in dry stone work and give our members the necessary skills and experience to tackle more demanding builds, such as arches and bridges.

We have developed quite a seasoned reputation in the field of dry stone walling over the years and a significant portfolio of projects are now dotted around our area. We have a strong sense of the environment in our work; dry stone walls have lasted for over two hundred years and provide essential shelter to flora and fauna, notwithstanding livestock in fields. These walls are part of the heritage of Scotland and we are determined to play our part in maintaining this element of history. As part of this belief, we maintain close links with the township museum at Auchindrain near Inverary, Kilmartin Museum, the Clanranald Society and the Island of Bute Regeneration Scheme.

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Dry Stone Walling Association
West of Scotland

Scottish Charity No
SCO 39439

WSDSWA 2010