THE BBC’S COUNTRYFILE – LIVE EXTRAVAGANZA -

In the first weekend of August the BBC’s ever so popular Countryfile programme came to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire for a 4 day festival of all things ‘country’.

Thousands of visitors came to see exhibitions, collections, crafts and demonstrations of all kinds from machinery to animals – just as you would expect to find on farms and in the countryside.

One such demonstration was building dry stone walls. Some may see it as an art form rather than a country craft… Chris Ingles from the Dry Stone Walling Association was on hand to show the visitors the ancient craft of dry stone walling, using the hand-picked stone from Smiths local quarry. Smith’s dry walling stone has all the characteristics and hues that are associated with the Cotswolds; warm honey coloured stone!

Chris passed a comment on how easy the stone is to use – although being a craftsman he is used to handling stone, might not be quite so easy for many of the visitors who watched the demonstration! (He seems quite pleased with the result, judging by the pose in the photograph).

The show piece (as seen here) is a fine example of how flexible the stone can be, from a field boundary to a garden centre piece. Here a contrasting Welsh Greystone has been used to add an extra design dimension to the construction.

Just click here to find out more about the Smiths Cotswold walling stone.