I found myself walking down a road of high-end victorian/edwardian houses today and come across the sign shown in the feature photo.
We’ve heard a lot recently about the lack of crafts people learning bespoke trades to maintain our heritage – museums, manor houses, historic buildings.
Apprenticeships in these areas are long and low paid – but the rewards once qualified – knowing you have played a part in conserving history- must feel powerful.
There’s little interest, it seems, in apprenticeships for stone masonry, stained glass construction etc – meaning a bleak future for these amazing buildings built WITHOUT power tools – let that blow your mind for a moment.
How could buildings be constructed with elaborate stone carvings without the use of drills etc hundreds of years ago? Here’s another thought, if one of these buildings was being constructed today – would it last as long?
The sign gave me a few emotions:
- How proud must Bryan be of his daughters?
- How proud do Bryan’s daughters feel to have completed that bespoke studying and form the family firm?
- How amazing that girls are getting into these bespoke areas of conservation and restoration?
Maybe there is a future for our heritage after all!
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