Chris lives in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. Prior to joining EHSI Chris studied welding and fabrication at Gateshead College and became involved at Tanfield Railway as a volunteer for two days a week.

Since joining EHSI he has already tackled some challenging engineering tasks at Tanfield, which are helping to develop his engineering skills. Tanfield are very pleased with the standard of the work he is producing.

Daniel comes from Consett, and came to EHSI from a local hotel where he was a member of the maintainence team, dealing with everything from leaking roofs to burst pipes. He feels he has settled in well to working on heritage joinery and carpentry, and is beginning to develop a wider range of woodworking skills.

Daniel believes that modern joinery is becoming a de-skilled and simply an assembly process. His experience of heritage woodwork at Beamish has been very different, and he is experiencing techniques rarely seen in commercial joinery and carpentry.

David lives just down the road from Beamish, in Chester le Street.
He qualified in electrical installations and later worked for a contractor on electrical contracts throughout the north east. David then took a temporary job at Beamish, was bitten by the steam bug and applied for EHSI. He finds steam engineering facinating and has already got into trouble at home concerning the state of his overalls!

Jonathan is from Haltwhistle and lives within walking distance of his placement at Stanegate. Prior to joining EHSI he worked in the construction industry, where much of his work was very repetitive, so Jonathan is enjoying the variety of work at Stanegate
where no two jobs are the same. He feels he is learning some some valuable woodworking skills, and finds the folks at Stanegate give him the freedom to learn in a supportive atmosphere.

Nigel comes from West Auckland prior to joining EHSI he was working for Groundworks at Shildon as a technical assistant. He applied for EHSI to widen his experience and is fascinated by heritage skills. He is enjoying his placement at Shildon and having the opportunity to see how engineering was practised in the past. He is particularly interested in surface finishing and painting techniques.

Owen, from Bedlington, began his placement at Bowes Railway near Gateshead. Prior to joining EHSI he was working for a national supermarket chain, but has also worked as a volunteer at both Bowes and Tanfield Railways. As you can see, Owen is enjoying his placement and is learning new skills. He was bitten by the steam bug at an early age and appreciates the opportunities EHSI is giving him to develop his skills.

Having completed his personal man-rider project at Bowes Railway (see our EHSI news page), in mid-October Owen transferred to Beamish Museum and Tanfield Railway, to complete the second half of his placement. At Beamish he will be working with the track gang on the installation of new tramway track, and at Tanfield he will be working with fellow trainee Chris Armstrong, who will be mentoring Owen in his welding skills. The EHSI team would like to thank Jim Pattison at Beamish and Ian Cowan at Tanfield for providing these learning opportunities for Owen.

Stephen is from Durham City. Before joining EHSI he was unemployed for 2 years, following redundancy from a 16 year career as an audio visual co-ordinator at a local further education college. He is enjoying his placement at Locomotion.

Stephen restores motorbikes as a hobby and is finding that the restoration of full size locomotives is a slightly different experience!

Tom lives in Whitley Bay and came to EHSI from the building trade, where he worked for a company specialising in loft conversions. Tom says his placement has been the most enjoyable work he's ever done. He has been gaining valuable experience and relishing the challenge of working on a wide variety of vehicles at Beamish, from model 'T' Fords to trams.

In the autumn, a vacancy arose amongst the maintainance team at Beamish and after an interview in October, Tom became a permanent member of the Beamish workforce. He is now working on trams and road vehicles alongside his former mentor Brian Williams.

Well done Tom, congratulations from everyone at NECT!