Jim Holdsworth – President
Jim is an architect and town planner. While his work is mainly in inner Melbourne he has always been interested in the history of how Australia developed and travels widely in regional areas. He says; Preserving and celebrating the best dry stone structures will allow the stories behind and within them to be remembered and told.
Allan Willingham – Vice President
Allan is an architect and architectural historian and maintains a specialised interest in the architectural and cultural history of Western Victoria and his Camperdown home town. He is published widely on these subjects including a history of fencing in the region. His interest in the dry stone walls on the volcanic plains of Western Victoria led to his involvement with the DSWAA. His current interest is the aero-dynamics of volcanic bombs!
Andrew Miller – Secretary
Andrew’s interest and involvement with the wonderful craft of dry stone walling developed when he resided in Camperdown from 1977 to 1999. I was a member of Corangamite Arts at the time and we saw an opportunity to raise awareness of the cultural and heritage value in the walls that crisscrossed much of the Corangamite landscape. The Corangamite Dry Stone Wall Conservation Project, publication of ‘If These Walls Could Talk’, formation of the DSWAA in Ballarat in 2003 and many wonderful field trips with DSWAA members have been highlights. I can’t recall how many years as Secretary! Andrew is a civil engineer by training and enjoys volunteering in Timor Leste, especially activity relating to the arts.
Raelene Marshall
Raelene is an arts and culture practitioner. She was commissioned by the Australia Council to research drystone structures in the Grizedale Forest, Cumbria, UK. She curated the exhibition; A Stone Upon A Stone; undertook the Shire of Melton Dry Stone Walls Pride of Place Study and represented Australian at the Societe Pierre Seche, presenting at their bi-annual International Congresses.
Stuart Read
Stuart trained in science, horticulture and landscape architecture, specialising in working on Australian World, National and NSW heritage areas, seeking wider acceptance of landscapes as valid type of heritage place worth managing better. Based in NSW, some of Stuart’s passions are learning lessons from historic gardens, lost plant diversity and dry stone walls.
Sue Jones – Membership Secretary
Sue and Peter became minders of some old agricultural walls in 2007 when they moved to their five acre block at Little River, on the edge of the Western Basalt Plain and under the shadow of the You Yangs. They joined the DSWAA at that time to follow their interest in dry stone walls in the landscape and to learn more about the importance of stonework in Australia’s Indigenous and settler history. Sue’s background is in the community services and includes service provision, training and, most recently, program evaluation.
Bruce Munday – Journal editor
Bruce and his wife Kristin run a cattle property in the Adelaide Hills from which Bruce also works as a communications consultant. He has had a long fascination with dry stone walls, built a few, run workshops and published a book on dry stone walls in SA: Those dry-stone walls.
Geoff Thomas Archivist
Geoff joined the DSWAA Committee in 2016 and is currently developing the DSWAA Archive on the Collections Victoria system. His interest in rocks and stone structures resulted from the acquisition of land on North Redesdale Road, Redesdale 36 years ago. Since then he has built a dwelling from materials on the property and attempted to construct and repair dry stone walls. Joining DSWAA has been an inspiration causing much rethinking about the love affair with stone.