16-17 May 2025

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’

24-25 April 2025

Parkside Building, Birmingham City University B4 7BD and Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust, Dudley

A general introduction to the history of canals with particular emphasis on the canal heritage of the West Midlands, run in conjunction with the Canal and Rivers Trust. Issues of planning, conservation and sustainability will be discussed. The course will involve site visits and a canal trip. There will also be sessions on the conservation of canal vessels and on maritime and underwater heritage.

Jackfield Tile Museum, and Museum of Iron, 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...’

7-8 February 2025

Parkside Building, Birmingham City University B4 7BD and site visit to Bournville

The way historic buildings and scheduled monuments are designated and managed is changing. This workshop will explore the most up-to-date information on heritage protection as well as planning legislation in theory and practice. Conservation areas and their challenges will be tacked as well as issues relating to listed buildings and curtilage. A site visit to Bournville Conservation Area will take place on the Saturday.

Ludlow and Worcester/Bromsgrove
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’

10-11 January 2025

Parkside Building, Birmingham City University B4 7BD

Understanding and consultation are the basis of the Conservation Management Plan – so essential if you wish to apply to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for funding. The course also explores Options Appraisals, and the composition of policies, as well as how to write Heritage Impact Assessments and viability studies. This is vitally important if you want to be sure you are getting a future that will work for your conservation project.
‘This workshop gave me a great deal of confidence to deal with the issues.’

14-15 February 2025

Parkside Building, Birmingham City University B4 7BD

If you work in a historic building, site or landscape you will want and need to share that asset with lots of other people. In order to do this you will need to market it and interpret it. This two-day course will aim to cover some of the essentials of marketing the heritage as well as to explore a variety of interpretation methods for historic properties and environments. It will look at Black Heritage and contested heritage. It will also cover disaster management in relation to historic buildings - how to plan in advance for fire and flood in order to lessen possible consequences without harming the historic building in the process.

13-14 December 2024

Parkside Building, Birmingham City University B4 7BD

Monies are often tight when it comes to conserving historic buildings. Grants from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Architectural Heritage Fund make all the difference to the viability of a project. Get a look behind the scenes of a Building Preservation Trust. Hear about it also from the developer’s perspective.

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.

17-18 January 2025

Parkside Building, Birmingham City University B4 7BD

This course splits into two days - the first giving an introduction to project management – essential if you need to keep on top of events rather than be swamped by them - and the relevance of BIM and its application to historic buildings. Urban design – the importance of design for new build in historic fabric - will be explored on day two

2-3 May 2025

Woodchester Mansion, Stroud, Gloucestershire and Parkside Building, Birmingham City University B4 7BD

England is blessed with a great variety of building stones, which is partly what gives it its unique character. Yet stone weathers and decays for a number of reasons. If you work in or with or on a stone building this two-day course will help you understand why and how stone decays and what the appropriate repair or conservation techniques are. Demonstrations from a stone mason and a chance to do some carving will complement lectures from architectural conservation staff.
‘I now know limestone from sandstone and know what to ask my builder to do.’

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.

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.

Harvington Hall, Worcestershire and Pitchford Hall, Shropshire.
Learn the levels of recording commissioned in the conservation industry, whether to discharge a planning condition or for investigation, or in advance of demolition. Prepare for recording, selecting the most appropriate techniques. See the latest techniques of photogrammetry and laser scanning. Experience hand drawing a measured elevation and plan. See if remote capture by drone is for your project.
‘I needed to update myself on current methods and potential’.

4-5 April 2025

Llanymynech Limeworks, near Oswestry, Shropshire

All buildings constructed before the mid-nineteenth century would have used LIME for mortar, render, plaster and limewash. Lime allows buildings to ‘breathe’, but yet it is sometimes tricky to use and takes longer to apply, dry and finish than modern cements, and therefore many builders are unhappy with using it. Yet if you live, work or own an old property, using cement for repairs will damage the fabric of the building so this is your chance to get to understand the lime cycle, lime mixing and to enjoy practical hands-on sessions pointing and plastering using lime. Tim Ratcliffe, Conservation Architect, Simon Ayres of Lime Green and Stuart Preece, Plasterer, will be course tutors for an enjoyable two outdoor days. Mark Hawcroft will teach us about hot-mixed lime. Not for the faint-hearted!
‘great fun – I’ll never use cement again’