Youngsters get career building skills

A dozen people are learning the traditional craft of dry stone walling as part of Kirklees Council's "build" programme which provides short-term skills and craft training for unemployed people without affecting their benefits.

The trainees are replacing 100 metres of the original boundary wall around Castle Hill , learning each stage of dry stone walling as they go, from laying footings to putting copestones on top.

The training includes how to dismantle dry stone walls – for once they have built the wall, the trainees will pull it down and rebuild it.

Master craftsman dry stone waller Nigel Goody, from nearby Thurstonland, who is running the course said: "We are trying to prepare them to be able to take the initial certificate in dry stone walling."

The organisers say that as much as possible of the original stone will be re-used, with new stone from Johnson's Quarries, Crosland Moor, being used sparingly.