The marathon wall-building event took place over two days from 8.30am to 6pm on Saturday and 8.30am - 4.30pm on Sunday.

Dry Stone Walling Association (DSWA) members from Cumbria and other parts of England, joined Friends of the Lake District (FLD) and Lake District National Park volunteers and several local farmers, builders and Staveley residents, teamed up at the ‘Wallathon' to construct the wall running alongside a new ‘Miles Without Stiles' Path next to the River Kent.

Lord Henley, DEFRA (Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Minister visited the volunteer walling army. He said: ‘Hedgerows mark the field boundaries near Carlisle where I farm, so I enjoyed watching these craftsmen and women applying their dry stone walling skills. This project represents a marvellous example of partnership in action with the Lake District National Park Authority, charities DSWA and FLD, local businesses and the local community pooling their resources to make things happen on the ground. Developing our skills base is very important to maintain the fantastic landscape and support the rural economy.'

Local business sponsors for the weekend's walling were Burlington Stone, Friends of the Lake District, Hawkshead Brewery, Wilf's Café and landowner John Nicoll.

Bob Bond from the Cumbria Branch of the Dry Stone Walling Association said: ‘I must thank all the sponsors who supported us, and fuelled the work force with bacon butties and locally brewery beer from just across the river! When the Friends of the Lake District approached us to help with this project we recognised its overall value to the local community. We hope the new wall will give great pleasure to people when they use this popular riverside route.'

The Miles Without Stiles Project at Staveley includes a brand new bridge over the river Kent and a wheel-chair accessible path alongside the river, bounded by the new 200 metre dry stone wall. It will be completed over the next few weeks by the Lake District National Park Authority field ranger team.