Heritage Seminar Day

March 2020 at Caerhays Castle

KPK builders, along with Cornwall Construction Training Group and Caerhays Castle held a training day working towards Heritage construction and building practices. Two schools attended the seminar to learn about the history of Caerhays, products and methods that would have been used to build this castle.

There were 3 separate activities :

1) Hands on activities – The pupils could actually have a go and use some of the building practices that were used. Separating the pupils into small groups they were able to have a go at natural slate roofing, dry stone walling and building a brick wall with natural lime mortar and rendering with lime mortar over a timber lath wall. This was carried out with qualified tradesmen to guide and help at each activity.

2) There was a tour of Caerhay’s Castle, here we explained the history of the building and the different uses it has had over the years, how the building has evolved and changed with new owners whilst also explaining the importance of the upkeep and maintenance of a building such as Caerhay’s Castle.

3) We were able to hold a careers talk in the Georgian Hall taken by Paula Hutchens ( CCTG). The students had the opportunity to explore the vast array of career opportunities within the industry. They had a go at the ‘Myth and Buster’ game and held a Q&A session, the students were really engaged and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

They were particularly interested in the heritage sector as this was an area they had never really explored before. Some interesting conversations were exchanged and it was really encouraging to hear both groups strongly supported females working within all sectors of the industry. It was also encouraging to see three ladies attend the day.

A good day was had by all, the schools involved were excellent and really well behaved, showing interest throughout. This was a good opportunity to provide another career path towards working in the construction industry focusing on the heritage element of construction which will hopefully see an increase in the area of skilled labour.

A big thank you to all involved :
Wheeler roofing- Terry
Contec- Sam
MW Construction- Pete & Ginge
Cornish Lime
Travis Perkins