Skip to main content
Donate
Dry Stone Wall project, Lumb, Rossendale

Dry Stone Wall project, Lumb, Rossendale

13.01.18

This project is now complete – thank you to everyone for the support!

13.11.2017

What a great morning! We had the pleasure of attending the Archives Office in Preston. This was the final activity we had planned for those that have been interested in the Dry Stone Wall project which we have been working on and with a range of partners over the last 12 months. Keri, who was our guide for the morning, was fantastic! She gave us an overview of the Archives Office and what was stored in there – it’s not just records of births deaths and marriages!…loads of old maps, court records, coroners reports, hospital records and rate books are all part of the mix – which all helps when building up a picture of life in the past and ancestors. We were lucky enough to see the school register for Goodshaw and log book written by the head teachers from the 1850’s – fascinating stuff detailing what children were learning at the time…a lot of maths! We also saw song books that were used by the Larks of Dean as well as maps of Water / Goodshaw / Crawshawbooth dating back to 1850’s and 1890’s. Attached are some pictures of this – but Keri then showed us some of the oldest pieces in the collection – a letter from Queen Elizabeth 1 to the Chinese Emperor talking about trade routes and a medieval prayer book from the 1400’s, which was in relatively good condition. A really enjoyable experience – hope you guys did too!

DSCN0959 DSCN0962 DSCN0958 DSCN0956 DSCN0955 DSCN0950 DSCN0948 DSCN0944

 

13.11.2017

Some lovely feedback from one of our volunteers on the project – thank you Gareth!

“I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to fulfil a lifetime ambition to learn and hopefully acquire some skills in the art of Dry Stone Walling. I was only able to attend on two days but the whole experience, with such an excellent Tutor and craftsman, lived up to all my expectations. I came away with the confidence to attempt my own projects, having benefitted from working alongside a real expert and great teacher, who was able to pass on his skills and instructions with such clarity and understanding. A fantastic course. Thank you”.

Gareth Potter

 

25.8.2017

Hi there. We’ve put together a small leaflet to try and summarise everything about this fabulous project – please feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested. Thank you 🙂

‘Build the Past’ leaflet

1.8.2017

Fame at last! Just posting this in case you didn’t see it in the Rossendale Free Press last week!

Rossendale Free Press 21.07.17

21.7.2017

We have put together some interpretation panels detailing everything about the project. Hope you like them – please feel free to share 🙂

Build the Past panel v 1.1 red    Dry stone walling board v1.1 red

   Peers Clough Board v 1.1 red   Larks of Dean interpretation board v1.1 red

4.7.2017

“A big thank you to everyone who has been involved with Build the Past and who helped make it such a wonderful project to work on.

The project was officially launched on 25th June at Peers Clough Farm with a performance by the Larks of Dean Quire. Please follow this link to experience the Quire singing in the Barn on the day.

https://youtu.be/UCenfUYO7_A

And the links below will take you to the project partners to find out more”

http://www.peerscloughfarm.co.uk/

https://sites.google.com/site/larksofdean/Home

https://www.facebook.com/alanrhodes.drystonewalling

http://www.water.lancs.sch.uk

https://www.hlf.org.uk/

25.6.2017

Peers Clough Farm and Proffitts- Investing in Communities were delighted to welcome the Larks of
Dean Quire and visitors on Sunday 25th June to help celebrate the launch of ‘Build the Past’.
The project was funded by an ‘Our Heritage’ grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and included 15
practical activity dry stone walling days on site with Master Dry Stone Waller Alan Rhodes (rebuilding 42m of wall); researching the history of the local area at Lancashire Archives, Bacup Natural History Museum and Rawtenstall Library and receiving all the pupils at Water School for an activity day.
The launch event held at Peers Clough Farm included an unaccompanied vocal performance from the Larks of Dean Quire, a chance to learn more about the area through interpretation panels, a guided walk across the moors to Goodshaw Chapel and an opportunity to look around the Chapel itself. The Chapel is owned by English Heritage and was specially opened by the Keyholder for the event.
Commenting on the launch, Rachael Gildert of Proffitts – Investing in Communities said: “After a very gloomy start to the day, the weather became bright and sunny just in time for the launch and we were able to enjoy a really fantastic afternoon. The performance by the Larks of Dean Quire, even in the unglamorous barn setting was truly wonderful. It was great to welcome so many visitors on the day and share what we had learnt about the area and follow in the footsteps of the original Larks of Dean across the moors to Goodshaw Chapel, which had been specially opened for the occasion. Thank you to everyone who has taken part and been involved in the past few months.

Larks pic 1

Larks pic 2

sky pic

22.5.2017

Some lovely words from Mr Willan, headteacher of Water Primary School, after today’s visit:

“Thank you so much for today. We were all so impressed with the amount of effort and organisation which you had all put in. The children loved the experience and gained new skills. We live in such a beautiful part of the country and we often take it for granted. Today reaffirmed this view. Rachael thank you so much for all your efforts in making today happen. Have a lovely week”

22.5.2017

Peers Clough Farm and Proffitts- Investing in Communities were delighted to work alongside Water
School to learn more about dry stone walling through craft workshops, demonstrations and practical activities carried out around the Farm. Pupils from the entire school visited the farm on a beautiful sunny day, kicking off their Health and Wellbeing week with a walk to the farm followed by the walling activities. They were assisted in this by Master Dry Stone Waller Alan Rhodes, a member of the Dry Stone Wall Association. We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund enabling us to have been able to work with the community over the past few months, allowing us to deliver the practical walling sessions, engage the local pupils in their heritage and learn more about the the unique history of the area which links it to The
Larks of Dean.
Owl 2 Owl 3
Banner 1

 

12.5.2017

End of the last day walling @peerscloughfarm #Rossendale – 42 metres of wall completed and 553 volunteer hours!! Thanks to @HLFNorthWest and @bexxym40

Finish

12.5.2017

Hardy souls braving the rain on our last day of walling!! @peerscloughfarm @HLFNorthWest

5

11.5.2017

Another fabulous day yesterday! The weather was beautiful and sunny – lucky us! Thanks to all our volunteers, including Rebecca @HLFNorthWest

1 2 34

11.5.2017

We are pushing on!!! It’s looking great so far, wouldn’t you agree? We are so pleased with the team effort – thanks to all involved!! Last push now!

break  scenery

4.5.2017

The last couple of days have been great – a big thanks to all our helpers!!! Stuart @CivicPrideRoss and the ten volunteers/trainees we have today – all locals who live and work in #Rossendale :))) We’re getting on for 20 metres now!!

Pic 1 1 Civic Pride

2.5.2017

We thought we had an extra helper at one point too……no such luck – he just fancied a wriggle and wanted to say hello! #Mole

Pee po!

2.5.2017

Just a few photos from the weekend – we’re making fantastic progress – we still have a few spaces left tomorrow if you fancy helping out?!

Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3

28.4.2017

The fun never stops – feeling great but the wall is looking better 🙂 #Lockingthetop #Community #Rossendale #Tesco

Walling 2  Walling

27.4.2017

Thanks to all the chaps @NetworkRailPR for volunteering on this dry stone wall project – what a great day for it. Smiles all round!!

Tesco

27.4.2017

Fantastic group walling activity going on! Thank you to @Tesco_North @colettebutleruk @HLFNorthWest and @Peerscloughfarm – what great community spirit!

Tesco 1

27.4.2017

Despite the weather the other day, the job still needs doing! Click on the link below to view a short video

Persevering despite the hailstorm!!

25.4.2017

“Every stone should do its duty by its neighbour” – learning about #drystonewalling with Alan Rhodes @HLFNorthWest @peerscloughfarm #Rossendale

Dry stone wall Dry stone wall 2

30.1.2017

We are looking for volunteers! Would you be interested in carrying out research and helping with practical dry stone walling repairs? If so, click on the link below to find out more. Please pass on to anyone else you think may be interested too! Thank you 🙂

Heritage Wall Project Newsletter Winter_Spring 2017

3.11.2016

‘Build The Past’ – Heritage Dry Stone Wall Project, Lumb (Autumn 2016 Newsletter)

Project Background

Proffitts Investing in Communities have been awarded an ’Our Heritage’ grant from Heritage Lottery Fund to develop a skills based project focussing on Rossendale’s dry stone wall heritage.

 Project Activities

This project will include:

• several weeks of training in dry stone walling by Master of Dry Stone Walling, Alan Rhodes. This work will repair a dry stone wall and stile along public footpath number 41 in Lumb

• Research workshops with the Friends of Valley of Stone volunteers, to be held at Lancashire Records Office and at Rawtenstall Library.

• Production of leaflets with information relating to the heritage of dry stone walling and local social history

• A project launch in June 2017 which will incorporate a guided walk, exhibition of the project and also a choral rendition from the Larks of Dean Quire

Proffitts are hoping that local people, groups and schools will get involved in some or all of the activities.

 Project Partners

There are several partner organisations involved in the delivery of ‘Build the Past’. Details of these organisations are listed below alphabetically

Heritage Lottery Fund

www.hlf.org.uk

Larks of Dean Quire

www.larksofdean.co.uk

Peers Clough Farm

www.peerscloughfarm.co.uk

Rural Rossendale

www.ruralrossendale.co.uk

Valley of Stone

www.valleyofstone.org.uk

 Contact Information

For more information and to get involved, please contact Rachael Gildert at Proffitts at [email protected] or call 07875 106084

You can follow the progress of the project by clicking here which will take you to the Proffitts website. The newsletter is also available to view as a pdf in the link below.

Heritage Wall – project newsletter-autumn-2016-2

27.6.2016

Some fantastic news!! Proffitts were delighted to secure £28,900 funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for this project.

Along with ourselves, volunteers from the community, local landowners and a local Master Stone Mason, the project will revolve around learning the art of ‘Dry Stone Walling’ and developing historical research skills into this project.

The proposed location for the Dry Stone Walling project is in the vicinity of Peers Clough, Lumb, Rossendale – on the moorland adjacent to Swinshaw and Liver Hill. The section of wall is located on a historic route once used by The Larks of Dean when travelling over the moors from Lumb to Goodshaw Old Chapel.

Commenting on the award, Martin Proffitt of Proffitts – Investing in Communities said: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund – it will allow us to deliver a three week session in dry stone wall building, including researching the unique history of the area which links it to The Larks of Dean”.

Click on the link to view Wall pictures and location maps

The project will be delivered with the help of other partners including Friends of Valley of Stone, Goodshaw Baptist Church, Lumb Baptist Church, Lancashire County Council and of course involving the Larks of Dean. The project is open to anyone who would like to get involved in the project – essentially learning the rare skill of building dry stone walls and elements of learning research methods at the local library and Lancashire records office. If you would like any further information on the scheme please contact Martin or Linda on (01204) 778 907 or [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.

4.11.2015

Proffitts are working with volunteers from the community, local landowners and a local Master Stone Mason to develop a heritage skills project – primarily, ‘Dry Stone Walling’ and historical research skills. The proposed location for the Dry Stone Walling project is in the vicinity of Peers Clough, Lumb, Rossendale – on the moorland adjacent to Swinshaw and Liver Hill. The section of wall is located on a historic route once used by The Larks of Dean when travelling over the moors from Lumb to Goodshaw Old Chapel.

Throughout the development of the project, we will be engaging with local schools, volunteers from the community, English Heritage and various local community groups for input and support for this exciting project.

Please follow this link to complete a short questionnaire about Heritage Dry Stone Walling, Historic routes in Rossendale and to give your comments about the project and if you would like to be involved, we’d love to hear your views

(Picture below: Dry stone wall to be rebuilt)

Dry stone wall to be rebuilt

(Picture below: Volunteers rebuilding a dry stone wall on a previous project)

Volunteers rebuilding a dry stone wall on a previous project

(Picture below: Site location map)

V2