Date: 27-28 May 2022

Location  Museum of Iron and Jackfield Tile Museum, Ironbridge Gorge, Telford

Bricks, terracotta, faience and tiles – all of these form part of many historic buildings. Do you know how they are made, how they decay and how to repair, replace or conserve them? This hands-on course will include a trip to the newly-refurbished Jackfield Tile Museum, a go at decorating a tile, as well as bricklaying using lime mortar.

                                           ‘a great experience...’

Date: 15-16 July 2022

Location: Ludlow and Worcester 

Nearly all historic properties will have wood in them - whether as windows, joists, floors or doors. Some buildings are also structurally made from wood with timber frames. The first day of this course will deal with the conservation of non-structural timber in buildings – using Treasures workshop in Ludlow. The second day will deal with the history of and problems with timber-framed buildings and include visits to some magnificent examples. Current repair techniques will be demonstrated using experts.

                                           ‘Very helpful and interesting’

Date: 20 - 21 May 2022

Location - Black Country Living Museum, Dudley 

Lead flashing on roofs, brass or copper on domes, lead windows, wrought iron gates, structural cast-iron buildings – these are some of the uses of metals in buildings. And metals decay. This workshop looks at the historical background of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, their methods of production, the reasons for their decay and the appropriate conservation techniques for lead, wrought and cast iron. Students will get a feel for wrought-iron repair by trying their hand at forge welding. We will be making pot hooks, nails and pokers.                            

‘Really exciting and eye opening’

Date: 8-9 July 2022

Location A private estate in Shropshire and Hagley Hall, Worcestershire

This two-day course will study how a traditional landed estate used to be managed and how it manages to make its way in the twenty-first century. Are there compromises to be made over reusing farm buildings? If the estate contains listed buildings, scheduled monuments and a registered park or garden, how are funding targets met? The course will be held at a privately-owned estate near Shrewsbury. The second day looks at the history and management of historic parks and the exciting discovery and conservation of an eighteenth-century landscape garden.

              ‘To get behind the scenes as we did felt very privileged’; ‘The head gardener at Hagley is inspirational’.

Date:10-11 June 2022

Location           Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton and Westwood House, Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire.

How do you peel away the layers of a historic interior and discover what is really ‘significant’? Once you have understood the interior how do you install services - electricity, security and fire detection systems? Using Wightwick Manor as a case study the day will progress to how the National Trust conservators identify the agents of deterioration within the mansion and deal with both preventative and remedial conservation. The second day will take a closer look at the plastered, papered and painted finishes of historic interiors.

‘a wonderful weekend…’

Date: 24-25 June 2022

Location: Parkside Building, Birmingham City University B4 7BD

Some of the iconic buildings of the twentieth century were constructed from reinforced concrete. Like it or loathe it the concrete revolution changed the pattern of building. Yet reinforced concrete decays and is subject to concrete cancer. If you manage a twentieth-century building you may want to know why it is important, how its components might be decaying and what to do about it. The Twentieth Century Society will talk about their recent campaigns. Concrete repairs will be covered in detail. There will also be case studies on successful conservation projects.

‘I could have done a whole week of this’.