The Principality’s the place for traditional principles n One of the many lime companies offering courses in the use of the material is The Lime Company of West Wales. Based in Crymych, Pembrokeshire, it claims to be the first historic building conservation company in West Wales to specialise in the repair and conservation of traditional buildings, and has saved over 50 local buildings using traditional materials. Its craftspeople have been selected to advise on the creation of the National Heritage Training Group’s forthcoming lime training modules NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) and to assist with the Cadw and Construction Skills Wales initiatives to address Wales’s heritage skills shortage. According to the company’s literature: “We are very aware that our specialist knowledge should indeed be general knowledge and we are as keen to teach people new to the joys of old structures, as we are to help professionals develop their existing building skills.” In addition to their own short courses in Wales, the company teaches throughout the UK on behalf of the SPAB, The National Trust and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. The training courses include Lime for Builders: Principles of Conservation and Basic Best Practice, a one-day course designed to give builders an introduction to the correct use of lime, and Lime for Builders’ Merchants: What is lime and what should it be used for? which recognises the importance of the knowledge passed on by builders’ merchants in the correct use of the materials they sell. Lime for Specifiers: The relevance of lime specification and sound ecological practice in historic building conservation is designed to give professionals
such as architects, surveyors and planners an introduction to lime specification. More general one-day courses are designed to give homeowners and tradespeople the knowledge required to help conserve old houses. One such gives an insight into the skills required for successful best practice when using lime. The course comprises mainly practical workshops where those attending enjoy a great deal of ‘trowel-time’. Skills such as lime pointing, plastering, limewashing and roughcasting are explored in-depth. Interaction is encouraged throughout the day – so students should be prepared to get stuck in. According to the company, traditional building skills are particularly relevant in Wales because one third of its housing stock was built before 1914 and therefore prior to the widespread use of cavity walls. Modern insulation methods can be catastrophic to these solid-walled houses, so the traditional repair techniques using lime plaster and allowing the walls to ‘breathe’ are essential. q • To find out more, visit www.tlcwestwales.co.uk.
HLF grant for limebased softening plant
n A less well-known use of lime is for the softening of water in traditionally ‘hard water’ areas. The lime is produced in the traditional method, shunning the modern production method developed in the early 19th century because it produces a purer product. The method is still being used at Twyford Waterworks in Hampshire, an Edwardian facility which is still powered by steam and run by a preservation trust. In July the trust was awarded an £820,000 Heritage Lottery Fund award. Still commercially pumping five million gallons of water a day, Twyford Waterworks is a ‘time capsule’ of engineering, showcasing the complete history of water pumping through the eras. It retains nearly all its original equipment from the past 100 years, including five large lime kilns, a water-powered narrow gauge incline railway, water-driven lime mixing equipment and the entire water softening process. q
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