CONTEXT 189 : SEPTEMBER 2026 33 INFRASTRUCTURE Maintaining the built heritage of the area required the rebuilding of a cob wall with a good hat and strong boots to protect it against moisture. THREATENED MATERIALS AND CRAFTS one of the hottest topics, but it does not have to be the preserve of specialists. Its successful application might need a little practice, but its fundamental performance characteristics are quite simple. Specialist independent heritage- and ecomaterial suppliers across the country offer short courses on heritage skills, and there are an increasing number of purpose-built training centres. I have met non-specialist tradespeople who attended these independently run short courses and went on to transfer successfully into heritage work fulltime when they realised how much the skills were in demand. But such courses seem to be most often attended by DIY enthusiasts, rather than being tailored to people who are already working in the construction sector and are looking to transfer their skills. Anyone who has considered skills transfer as a route to help plug the skills gap will notice that there is another challenge, which short courses can not solve. With lime rendering, for example, the process and timeframe for carrying out and completing heritage work can vary dramatically, which is usually not the case for general render work. For some tradespeople the thought of having to return to a job to mist down the lime render every other day for a month, or not being able to finish the bottom two feet for a week because the render is drying so slowly, can be more bother than the job satisfaction is worth. If not approached right, the job might be completely unviable. There are occasions when, for example, sample patches, mortar analysis, or very specific and unforeseen substrate preparations are required. Adaptability and understanding the process are as important in conservation work as the physical skills, and they come through a particular mindset that not everybody has. I used to feel a bit of a fraud when I called myself a cob specialist because there is nothing rocket science about wetting down a cob wall, teasing in hair to the mix or controlling the drying. I used to think that my specialism was just a few simple but highly important concepts that
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