Historic buildings at risk

A lack of skilled workmen threatens the future of the UK's historic buildings, the National Heritage Training Group (NHTG) has warned.
The NHTG and the sector skills council for the construction industry (ConstructionSkills) are launching a new programme called 'Building On The Past: Training For The Future', to tackle the severe skills shortages in the traditional crafts sector within the construction industry.
Under the plans, the NHTG and ConstructionSkills will carry out a detailed UK-wide survey to establish the regional and country-wide variations in skills shortages and provision for training. They will also develop and implement a traditional building crafts skills training plan for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
There are fewer than 40,000 people in the UK skilled in the traditional building conservation crafts, and there are nearly 430,000 listed buildings in England alone.
The NHTG said the historic building environment was rich and diverse, but traditional skills which used to be passed down through the generations, such as stone masonry, fibrous plastering and lead sheet working, are dying out.