HOOK

How To Build Dry-Stacked Stone Walls By John Shaw-Rimmington There is something magical about a stone wall. It stands resolute and pow- erful, a geological edifice that speaks of 4melessness and stability. The idea that anyone can create something so solid without the use of heavy machin- ery seems ridiculous; some of the boulders used to create these walls weigh hundreds of pounds. Yet mankind has been building stone con- struc4ons for centuries using only their hands and a few simple, non-mechani- cal tools, and the results speak for themselves. John Shaw-Rimmington has been working with stone for over 30 years, and he shares all of the expe- rience and knowledge he has amassed with readers in his book, How to Build Dry-Stacked Stone Walls. The book makes the impossible sound feasible. Within its pages are step-by-step instruc4ons on how to cre- ate your own stone construc4on. Like any good instructor, mr. Shaw-Rimming- ton starts out with descrip4ons of the proper tools needed for the work: the brick hammer, the pry bar, the masonry chisel, a level, a wheelbarrow, etc. There are tools used to shape big rocks and small rocks, tools to li% and tools to break. Shaw-Rimmington then explains how each one of these is used with a series of easy-to-follow dos and don'ts. Once he has us primed, he expounds upon the structures themselves, with large sec4ons on stone walls, stone bridges, and follies (a term used here to describe a newly-created structure that appears to be a ruin). Each sec4on is loaded with detailed diagrams and color photographs of both the process and the completed works. The sec4on on stone bridges, in par4cular, is a fas- cina4ng look at the start-to-finish con- struc4on of stone archways created without mortar. The stones literally fit together cleanly and remain in place as if by magic for hundreds of years with- out any addi4onal bonding material. While the task of building even a sim- ple stone wall is not something anyone does in an a%ernoon, most of the proj- ects described within the book were completed in less than a fortnight. The inspira4on within the pages is palpa- ble, and with help and encouragement from Shaw-Rimmington, anyone can be a waller. Book Reviews 30 HOOK By David Neilsen Early Days of American Cra% Beer Through the Eyes of Ale Street News By Tony Forder (pictured right) Walk into your friendly neighborhood American grocery store chain and you'll find so many different brands of beer it can boggle the mind. While the 12- pack cartons of major na4onal brands such as Coors and Budweiser can dom- inate the aisles, dozens upon dozens of microbreweries are also generally available, offering a rich diversity of cra% beer for the connoisseur. It is hard to remember that 30 years ago, this simply wasn't the case. If you wanted beer, you were limited to the same, few, watered-down na4onal brands that made up the offerings of the corporate beer world, known col- lec4vely as Big Beer. One man who was intricately involved with the emergence of the American cra% beer move- ment is Tony Forder, and his book Early Days of American Cra% Beer is an in-depth, insider look at how a bunch of plucky beer lovers took on Big Beer and created a las4ng move- ment. Forder's Ale Street News chronicled the rise, fall, and rebirth of the movement like no other publica4on. Embedded within the cra%, the publica- 4on featured the biggest names in cra% beer journalism and became the go- to magazine for anyone who wanted to know about the cra% beer scene. In

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