The first of two taster courses in heritage stone masonry has taken place with ten students of construction from Pembrokeshire College. The courses are part of the project to develop a long-term management plan for the Pembroke Town Walls Trust being funded by the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund. The second course will take place in May with another group of students.

The training courses were designed especially for the project by the Tywi Centre based in Llandeilo and were led by Oliver Coe of Coe Stone Ltd in Haverfordwest. Advice on training young people in the skills needed for work in the sector was received from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).

All the students were registered by Cyfle Building Skills with their On Site Hub which was funded by CITB. This provided them with laptops to complete their training online and gave them a set of tools with which to go on site to work on one of Pembroke’s burgage walls for the second week.

Pembrokeshire College are arranging for one or two of the students to undertake some further work experience with Oliver Coe to restore the west wall of the Civil War gun platform along Pembroke’s north walls.

Arwyn Williams, Head of Faculty Engineering, Computing, Construction and Higher Education at the College, said:

“The learners have had a tremendous experience and the project has been a complete success. Oliver has done an exceptional job of engaging the learners and we should all be very proud of the last two weeks and months of planning. Thanks to the Pembroke Town Walls Trust for having the vision to set out the project.”