What does the British Waterways Heritage Training Programme offer? It offers practical, live-site training of a kind fundamental to an understanding of how to conserve historic buildings. Courses are led by outstanding instructors such as John Ashurst, Colin Burns, Keith Blackney and Colin Bridger. Each course starts with basic questions such as What is a listed building? What is a conservation officer responsible for? Why should we use lime and not cement? Where can we get reclaimed bricks? How do we choose a good contractor? Each course also provides the opportunity to don PPE gear, get dirty hands and work on real historic structures with real problems: this is one of the great advantages offered by the British Waterways programme. Another advantage is its portability: courses can either be run at British Waterways' centrally-placed Hatton Yard near Warwick or at one of its other widely scattered maintenance yards: training locations can easily match nation-wide customer requirements. As time goes on British Waterways will be developing new courses. Heavyduty-timber conservation, for example, is something which British Waterways is extremely good at, and there are several locations where it could be taught. Another possibility is the management of flora and fauna at historic sites; a subject upon which British Waterways is a nationally recognised authority. But for the moment British Wate1ways is concentrating on and benefiting from its basic training package: trades and specialist teams are rapidly acquiring a working knowledge of how to deal with historic buildings in a way that will ensure the future of those buildings. Recent encouraging examples include the repainting of the scheduled Brynich Aqueduct using a hydraulic lime mortar; paint removal and refurbishment of a listed public house in Harborough District: the 'minimum intervention' repair of a small timber and brick warehouse in Oswestry District and on the Grand Union Canal the conversion of a listed cottage which has just won an Aylesbury Vale District Council Award. The staff who worked on these successful conservation projects attended Heritage Training Programme courses. Now British Waterways looks forward to working with the IHBC in helping to ensure that others who want to work in the conservation sector get some useful and practical 'basic training'. Nigel Crowe is British Waterways' Heritage Manager. Context56 December1997 Basic masonry repairs: dressing a stone in the banker shop. Historic metalwork: steam-cleaning demonstration. Basic masonry repairs: grouting demonstration. Traininginanalysisand recording Robert Hook outlines the RCHME's approach to providing training in these skills. The key to the formulation of an appropriate strategy for the conservation management or protection of an historic building is an understanding of its fabric. An awareness of its structural history - its original form and the changes and alterations which it has undergone - is fundamental to an appreciation of its significance as well being an essential part of the underpinning knowledge required before drawing up a scheme of works for restoration, or deciding on the form and extent of any alterations or demolitions. Without such an understanding, it is difficult adequately to inform or direct attempts to mitigate change or protect the building, or specific features within it before any are lost in the course of works or their context is 31
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