“IF YOU CAN build a frame, you can build a house.” When Paul Lawford, founder of the Small Change Movement, first spoke these words to me and my five companions on the Basic Build Course in the Tipperary town of Cloughjordan, I thought: that is a very nice sentiment. I also thought: you will never succeed in teaching me to build a frame, much less a house.
At 31 years of age, I am the archetypal helpless millennial. Not only that, but as a diagnosed dyspraxic, my fine motor skills leave much to be desired. The closest I’ve ever come to craftsmanship was a few months of woodwork in first year of secondary school.
I scarred myself twice with a chisel and was ordered to study music instead. The Basic Build Course aims to teach beginners both the principles and practicalities of building through the lens of assembling a Tiny Home – miniature modular homes, often portable, weighing 3.5 tonnes or less.
While some of my fellow builders were seeking to build their own Tiny Homes, my own interest lay simply in learning to be a bit more useful. To begin with, I will give you an example of my general uselessness as of last week: the train from Heuston to Cloughjordan stops in the town of Ballybrophy in Laois, at which point passengers change to get to Tipperary. Or at least, most passengers do.
In attempting to change trains, I somehow boarded the train back to Heuston Station and didn’t realise my mistake until I heard the words “An Céad Stad Eile...
Droichead Nua”, the.
