DERBYSHIRE'S only registered female dry stone waller has spoken of her pride after a seat she designed was chosen for a prestigious memorial for the Women's Institute.

Sally Hodgson, 45, made the seat her sister Jo, who flew in from Canada to help and Nick Newton.

It was officially opened at the National Memorial Arboretum in Lichfield.

The seat, which is in the shape of an 'S' and can seat more than 20 people, was commissioned by the Women's Institute, to commemorate the work of WI members in World War Two.

The official opening, attended by the Duchess of Devonshire, who has been a member of the WI for 75 years, was yesterday at the Arboretum.

Mrs Hodgson, who runs a farm in Glossop, said it was an honour to be given the commission.

She said: "I'm extremely proud. I have worked as a waller for most of my life and this is a real honour.

"Generations of people will see this and it will mean a lot to them.

"I have built plenty of walls, bridges and garden pieces but this is the most prestigious piece I've done."

The ancient skill of dry stone walling involves the construction of walls, bridges and other structures from stones without using mortar to bind them.

Mrs Hodgson said a family friend introduced her to walling when she was a young girl.

She said: "My family and I lived in the farm at Glossop and a man in his seventies became friends with us.

"He couldn't read or write and I used to help him write birthday cards. But he was a dry stone waller and he taught us all how to do it."

Mrs Hodgson's sister Jo, 48, lives in Quebec, Canada, and is also a dry stone waller.

She flew over to Derbyshire to help her sister for the three weeks it took to put the WI seat together.

Mrs Hodgson said: "It is quite astonishing how we both ended up being professional wallers. It is unusual for women to get into, but our family was touched by our old friend.

"It is a very satisfying job because of the design process and working out how it will hold together."

The stone for the memorial was donated by Longcliffe Quarry in Brassington.

Susan Birch, of the Women's Institute in Derbyshire, said the group felt the efforts of the WI in wartime were not properly recognised.

Mrs Birch, 65, of Old Derby Road, Ashbourne, said: "In the National Memorial Arboretum there was nothing there to celebrate the WI.

"The group put in an awful lot of work in the second world war, especially when there was a food shortage.

"We decided to try and get a memorial and raised money for two years. We got in touch with Sally because we knew she was a registered waller, her mother was in the WI and we liked her work. She was the perfect choice."