Practice

Practice Dates – 2024. Dates, venues and instructors subject to change, check for availability via phone or email as detailed below.

2024 Schedule	Status	Location	Stone Type	Instructor(s)
January 2024		No Meeting This Month
February 2024		No Meeting This Month
March 23rd & 24th	COMPLETED	Ashbourne Showground	Limestone	Tom Fenton
April 20th & 21st	COMPLETED	Nightingale Centre, Gt Hucklow	Limestone	Ray Mellor/Carl Hardman
May 11th & 12th	TBC	No event currently planned
June 8th & 9th	AVAILABLE	Kirk Field, Biggin – Social / workshop	Limestone	Emma Yates/Carl Hardman
July 27th & 28th	AVAILABLE	Tideswell Community Park	Limestone	Billy McCallum
August 24th & 25th	AVAILABLE	New House Farm, Stanton	Single Wall	Ray Mellor
September 28th & 29th	AVAILABLE	Green Farm, Biggin	Limestone	Emma Yates
October 26th & 27th	AVAILABLE	High Ashes Farm	Gritstone	Tom Fenton
November 23rd & 24th	AVAILABLE	Lockerbrook Farm, Ladybower	Gritstone	Carl Hardman
December 2024		No Meeting This Month

Practice meetings are for DSWA members only. Attendees under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

All members wishing to attend a practice weekend must pre-book a week in advance, where possible, by contacting the appropriate instructor directly as follows –

Billy McCallum	07917 192604
Tom Fenton	07929 451388 or [email protected]
Emma Yates	07966 666463
Ray Mellor	07904 883902
Carl Hardman	07768 978846

Please provide the instructor with your contact details. If you book a place and then cannot attend, please phone the instructor.

If the instructor needs to cancel the event, they will notify the member via their mobile numbers. There is no charge for members to attend practice weekends.

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The start and finish times are the same for all meetings, 9am to 4pm. You will need to bring with you safety boots with steel toe caps (mandatory), gloves, waterproofs, packed lunch, drink and a smile. Click here for recommended glove types.

If you have any additional equipment of your own such as a shovel, mattock, walling hammer, lines, tape measure etc and it is convenient to bring these with you, then please do so. The instructor will check the suitability of any tools brought to site.

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Wherever possible, DDSWA signs or flags will be placed to indicate where to turn into the site.

Ashbourne Showground The Showground is approximately 2 miles south of Ashbourne, just off the A52, in the village of Osmaston. Sat Nav – use DE6 1LW follow directions to the Showground from/via the A52 only. The stone here is Limestone.

High Ashes Farm – High Ashes Lane, Ashover, Chesterfield, S45 0LH. The stone here is Gritstone.

Hollowford Centre – Castleton, S33 8WB.

Lime Pit Project – The site is on the west side of the A515, 3 miles south of Newhaven or 2 miles from Biggin by Hartington. At grid reference SK 16430 57166 / E 416430 N 357166 there is a double gateway opposite a long wood. Turn into the left gate to access the site.

Lockerbrook Farm Outdoor Centre – Snake Pass, Bamford, S33 0BJ.

New House Farm – Stanton, Ashbourne, DE6 2DD 

Turn off the A52 from Ashbourne to Leek at the main crossroads for Stanton onto Bullgap Lane. DO NOT take the first turning from Ashbourne (Stanton Lane) as the road is very narrow.
Follow Bullgap Lane to the T junction and turn left towards Stanton. Follow the road into the village and keep left. New House Farm is on the left going out of the village (Sally Field Lane).

Nightingale Centre – Great Hucklow, (Off B6049), Buxton, SK17 8RH www.thenightingalecentre.org.uk

Tideswell Community Park – SK17 8NE. Located next to the School. Driving from the Anchor pub into the village, turn right before the George Inn, then turn right in front of the school into car park at top of hill.

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The small print:

For health and safety reasons these events have a limit of 12 attendees plus instructor. Would all attendees make sure they provide a mobile contact number when booking in case any days need to be cancelled at short notice.