Just cobbled together

Louise Roseingrave gets her hands dirty as she finds out if cob houses really do offer the dream option of a cheap and efficient self-built home without a mortgage

THE devastation caused by the fallout of the Irish property boom left a sour taste in my mouth. I need a place to live, however, and so began a mission to explore alternative methods of building. Within weeks, on a sunny Saturday morning, I found my welly-clad legs squelching in the muck of the most primitive building site imaginable. No machinery, no scaffolding, no hard hats. Just a gang of strangers, leaping about on a mix of clay, sand and straw. Like a bunch of kids, but with a purpose.

We are six cob building novices on a natural building course at the Hollies Centre for Practical Sustainability in West Cork.