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An English Holiday To Dorset


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Enthusiastic Conservation Volunteers

Thursday evening:

It is now almost Friday, and I am eagerly awaiting the beginning of my first ever OCV residential! I am both excited and curious about what it will be like. The plan for the weekend is to build dry-stone walls in Durlston Country Park near Swanage on Saturday and Sunday, and then to have a day off on Monday before making our way back to Oxford. Dry-stone walling is a completely new skill for me, so I am very much looking forward to this new challenge. I check the OCV kit list to make sure that I have not forgotten anything. My sleeping bag, mat and other items are neatly packed away in my rucksack, so I am ready to go.

Friday:

It is almost 6pm. A few of us congregate in front of the Lamb and Flag to wait for the trusted OCV van with the green logo to pick us up. We all introduce ourselves and join in the cheerful conversation. The van pulls up and we are soon ready to go. The atmosphere is very friendly - it almost feels like we are a bunch of overgrown school children going on a school trip! Later in the evening, we arrive in Swanage and get our first glimpse of the bay on our way to the church hall where we are staying. We eat a quick dinner and stay up a bit to bond with our fellow conservers.


Jerome builds a solid foundation

Saturday:

We wake up early and are soon on our way to Durlston after a full cooked English breakfast (yum) and a cold shower (eeek). Our warden Katie and her dog Widget greet us at the visitor centre and take us to the site where we will be working. Katie explains to us the magical art of making walls without any mortar. The first step is to dig a trench and to build the foundations with very large flat stones. Then, subsequent layers are added, but it is essential to make sure that the stones do not wobble to preserve the stability of the wall. The most difficult element of wall-building is that the outside also needs to look good, which is really tricky to achieve. Building a dry-stone wall is a very time-consuming activity, but when properly built, a wall can stand for more than 100 years! Katie's explanations seem like a lot to take in at once, so we soon have a well-deserved tea break to let our brains cool down.

We start our work on the wall and I soon realise that dry-stone walling is similar to a gigantic 3D puzzle. Finding the right shaped rock is always a challenge. Some rocks just do not fit anywhere, even if you try them in many different places, while others fit in straight away. We are making substantial progress, and by the end of the day, we have almost finished our section.


Our delicious beach BBQ

In the evening, we have a well-deserved barbecue and frisbee session on the beach followed by drinks at one of Swanage's lively pubs.

Sunday:

We finish our section in the morning and make a start on another stretch. For some reason, dry-stone walling seems to have become easier overnight and the stones all seem to fit in together much better than the day before.... The only slightly worrying thing is that my mind now sees rocks everywhere!

Feeling satisfied with our work, we decide to go to the pub again to sample the delicious local ciders.

Monday:

Monday is our day off, so we go for a short walk along the coastal path. This stretch of the Dorset coast is beautiful and the views from the cliff tops are stunning. At the end of our walk, we take the traditional group photo and make our way home.

My first OCV residential was a very good experience. I found dry-stone walling really rewarding and the group was lovely, so I highly recommend anyone to sign up for it next year!

Nathalie Marten

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