Work a day with the wall crew and reserve a dry stone walling day above the Douro

How a wall gets taken down and rebuilt

Half past eight at the foot of the terraces, boots on, and the first half hour goes on looking rather than lifting. A section of face has bulged and dropped, perhaps three metres of it, and the crew shows you why: water got in behind, the through stones were short, the fill was wrong. Then it comes down, further than feels reasonable, because a wall is rebuilt off a sound base or not at all. Sorting is the long part. Stone is graded into face, fill and the flat pieces that tie the two sides together, and that sorting decides how the day ends. Building starts before lunch. What you lay is checked, and some of it is taken out and relaid in front of you.

Lifting stone on a terrace in heat

Heavy work in open sun. You will lift stones of five to twenty kilos, repeatedly, from ground level to waist height, on a terrace two metres wide with a drop on one side. Gloves are provided and you should still expect scraped knuckles. In July and August the valley sits well above thirty degrees by eleven and shade is scarce, so the day moves earlier in the diary. Anyone with a back or a knee that gives trouble should not take this day, and the office would rather turn it down than sell it badly. Boots with ankle support are required, not suggested. Water is on site in quantity; a hat is on you.

Why eight people, and what $210 covers

From $210 per person, and eight people are needed before it runs, the largest number anything here asks for. A crew that stops paid work to teach two people has lost a morning; at eight the wall still moves forward and the day pays for itself, which is the whole reason the mark sits where it does. The figure holds transport up the valley, gloves and tools, the working day with the crew, and lunch eaten on the terrace out of the same baskets they eat from. It does not hold accommodation, boots, or anything taken home. The company running the day bills you in its own name.

Awkward things people ask about this day

Can one of us watch rather than work?

No. A terrace under repair is a working site with loose stone and a drop on one side, and the crew will not have somebody standing in it for eight hours. Everyone who comes lifts, sorts or lays. If one of your party wants a quiet day nearby, the office will say so plainly rather than sell a place that turns miserable by ten in the morning.

What happens if it rains all day?

Rain suits the work better than heat does, and the day runs through it. Steady rain on schist makes the terrace slippery, and past a certain point the crew stops for their own reasons rather than yours; that call is theirs and is made on the ground. If the day is stopped before lunch you are charged half, and if it never starts you are charged nothing.

How long does it take to reach eight people?

Longer than for any other day here, and the office does not pretend otherwise. Eight is the number at which the crew stays ahead of the wall, so it cannot be shaded down to seven. In practice the day fills in spring and autumn and rarely in August. You are told the current count when you enquire and again a fortnight out, and if it never fills you owe nothing.