Some of the region's specialist engineering heritage skills are being passed on to a new generation, to ensure that the North East's industrial history will be preserved for the future. Thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund's Skills for the Future programme, and in collaboration with Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, we are offering 24 bursary placements over 3 years to learn practical engineering heritage skills.

The training programme provides participants with varied skills, including the repair and maintenance of steam engines and trams and skills to maintain examples of Victorian industry, such as mining and water pumping equipment. Iain Watson, acting director, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums says:

“The North East is famed as the birthplace of the railway and the region’s fortune was made through mining, shipbuilding and marine engineering. However we have reached a stage now where former miners and engineers are aging or retiring and vital skills to preserve our industrial collections are dying out. The Skills for the Future programme not only addresses this skills gap head on, but it enables a new generation to gain first hand experience working alongside expert older workers, develop their practical skills and contribute to the maintenance and preservation of some of the most important industrial heritage exhibits in the North East.”

Our eight 2011-12 EHSI trainees started their bursary placements at the beginning of May 2011.

Three trainees are at Beamish Museum, two are at Locomotion in Shildon, one each at Tanfield and Bowes Railways and finally one placement at Stanegate Restoration in Haltwhistle.

We have now begun recruitment for our 2012-13 intake of EHSI trainees, and successful applicants will be in place in April 2012. Please see our EHSI Bursary Placement page for details.

For more information on this project please contact:

Kevin Malone 07787 699159 email: kevin.malone@nect.org.uk
or
John Stelling 07775 028680 email: john.stelling@nect.org.uk