I am semi-retired to Seattle in the US Pacific Northwest.

My Fellowship allowed me to visit drystone walling sites in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and north-eastern USA. This gave me insight into a wide variety of drystone techniques and led to further travels to Ireland, Canada, the USA and Europe. I gathered research to produce a book: Drystone – a Gathering of Terminology and Techniques. This is a distillation of, mainly, English language terminology associated with drystone construction. Variations in the terms and techniques record how they spread and adapted to suit local conditions.

Throughout my research I became aware that drystone walls are found in various forms around the world. Many predate by hundreds of years those found in the British Isles.

My work with The Highland Council in Scotland allowed me to work throughout the Highlands and Islands on a wide variety of stone types and stone structures including experimental archaeology.

I have wide experience in training drystone walling and am a qualified examiner with the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain.