Apprentices learn new skills renovating Kent barge
Whether wind power is any good for generating electricity is hotly disputed but for hundreds of years wind power kept London supplied with Kentish produce, right up until the 1960s, as sailing barges plied up and down the Thames and the Kent and East Anglian coasts.
The last sailing barge in the country to take a full load under sail alone was the Cambria in 1970. It is now owned by a registered charity, the Cambria Trust, established with the specific objective of restoring, preserving and using the famous barge. In 2007 it was moved to Standard Quay in Faversham where it's undertaking a comprehensive restoration at a cost of more than £1.4m.
Thanks to a substantial grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and support from Swale District Council work is continuing apace and it has proved possible to take on apprentices to work on the barge and other vessels through a new two-year shipwright training scheme to be run by the National Sea Training Centre.
On 8th June Lewis Honey, Alexander Kelly, Ryan Dale and Tom Browning signed up for Level 2 apprenticeships in Traditional Shipwright Skills. They are employed by Standard Quay Shipwrights and the Cambria Trust. It is hoped that they will progress to the Level 3 qualification on this new course and that the work will be complete in the next year and a half. The centre where they are training at Denton, near Gravesend, is part of North West Kent College and specialises in running marine-based courses. Rochester Independent College is contributing to the scheme too by providing a Key Skills course, which is part of the apprenticeship framework. Standard Quay Ltd has refurbished riverside premises for use as an apprentice workshop and classroom
Rear Admiral Bruce Richardson, chairman of the Cambria Trust said: 'this training scheme will help ensure that the skills of the shipwright are not lost to the nation and importantly will establish a nationally recognised qualification for young people wishing to pursue a career in boat building.'
'We shall not be fitting an engine - the Cambria has never had one - so it will also be able to demonstrate a truly carbon-neutral method of transport.'
The finished barge will be used for the benefit of local people as a mobile classroom and as a sail training craft to help with social outreach programmes.
If you would like to find out more call Quentin Williamson on 01322 629679 or email quentinwilliamson@nwkcollege.ac.uk
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