Pupils from Kirkwall Grammar School had the chance last week to try their hand  at traditional building skills, with help from Historic Environment Scotland (HES) and the Kirkwall Townscape Heritage Initiative (KTHI).

Special workshops were held with S3 pupils during their Practical Craft lessons, looking at building with traditional stone materials. Skills sampled included carving onto limestone, building dry stone dykes with rubble and Orkney stone, as well as using brick and mortar building to demonstrate the comparison in building methods.

Stuart Woodrow, Principal teacher in Design and Technology at KGS said:

“It means pupils have the chance to explore this area of practical crafts, and sample the skills and knowledge that are still very much part of the Orkney economy.”

“We’re also in the process of getting advice from HES about the types of tools we could introduce into our workshop here at KGS, so that hopefully future students will be able to try their hand too.”

Gavin Douglas from HES said:

“Giving young people a real flavour of what it is like to work with stone, including natural local materials, is a vital part of ensuring traditional skills remain an active part of the building industry. “