About the Film

In January 2015, the Engineering Heritage Skills Initiative (EHSI) held its final graduation ceremony at the private Preston family collection, closing a four year scheme run by the North of England Civic Trust (now Cultura Trust) that trained a new generation in traditional engineering crafts. This heritage training documentary was made to mark that closing chapter and to record what the scheme had achieved.

Over four years, EHSI awarded 53 bursaries across 22 placement providers, giving trainees hands on experience in machining, welding, boiler restoration and other traditional engineering skills. Many started with no formal qualifications, and 62 per cent were unemployed when they joined the scheme. By the time they finished, 91 per cent had found work in engineering or the heritage sector. For many, the placements also led to formal qualifications, with some trainees gaining Level 2 or Level 3 accreditation in welding or engineering, and others moving straight into full time apprenticeships.

A Heritage Training Documentary Built on Real Voices

The strength of this heritage training documentary lies in the trainees themselves, not the machinery they restored. Several spoke about what the scheme gave them beyond a qualification.

“I was on the dole for eighteen months. Now I’ve got a full time job doing something I love.”

Others talked about the pride of seeing their own work on public display.

“I can go to that museum one day and say, ‘I worked on that.’ That’s something to be proud of.”

Not every trainee came to EHSI through a conventional route. Some had been out of work for a long stretch, others had struggled with formal education or found it difficult to settle into a classroom setting. What they had in common was a wish to learn something practical, and a willingness to try a workshop they had never set foot in before. One trainee described the way that learning happened on placement, alongside people who were generous with what they knew:

“You don’t just learn the skills, you absorb them. You watch, you listen, and then one day you realise you can do it yourself.”

A Bridge Between Generations

Many heritage sites depend on a small number of experienced engineers, often close to retirement, with no one lined up to take on what they know. EHSI worked as a bridge between generations, with some trainees mentored by engineers forty years their senior. One mentor put it simply:

“We’re not only restoring pieces of history, we’re passing on the spark. That’s what this is all about.”

The scheme also left a mark beyond the people it trained directly. Several participants went on to set up their own businesses, including MBA Engineering Services, which now supports heritage sites across the UK.

Filming a Scheme Built on Craft

As a heritage documentary filmmaker, I was drawn to EHSI because of how directly it connected skill, place and community. The camera spent its time in workshops rather than at events, following the quiet, exact work of machining, welding and boiler restoration, and letting the trainees explain what they were doing in their own words. It is a slower kind of heritage film production than a promotional video usually allows, closer to observation than presentation.

A related strand of the scheme, which took these engineering heritage skills into schools, is a story that deserves its own film and its own piece in time.

A Lasting Model

With support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, EHSI became something more than a training scheme. It set a pattern that later heritage skills programmes have drawn on, and it is why this heritage training documentary is as much about mentorship and confidence as it is about traditional engineering.