Dying trades

[Student]

In the latest copy of Woodworking Crafts, amongst those relating to woodworking, is an article about a stained glass studio. The studio specialises in renovating the stained glass in historic buildings. The article concludes by saying “we take pride in each and very project in what is, unfortunately, a dying trade”. This seems a shame but elsewhere in the article it says that “the company is not seeking to recruit or expand” because if a job requires extra hands they call on local contractors who they trust. The article also mentions that “because of the particular skills required …. training an apprentice is not an option” as it would be “hard and very long winded, due to the skills involved”.

I’m not sure that the restoration of old stained glass is, in fact, “a dying trade” but, if it is, perhaps this is due to the lack of training opportunities available. I appreciate that small specialist family firms may not be able to afford to invest time and money in training apprentices but, if no one does, then trades will surely die out.

 

[Lonsdale73]

I wonder if the trusted, local contractors are former apprentices who served their time, took the quality training on low wages then struck out on their own to improve their earning potential? Not knocking either side, I appreciate an individual's need to earn but I can see the company view that the cost involved in training up an apprentice can't be justified if they're going to leave soon after qualifying.

For a number of years I earned my living from sharing my knowledge and experience in what was a new and highly specialised area, training people to do what I could do. It was a double-edged dagger; with each 'graduate' my reputation was enhanced but at the same time that was one more person chipping away at my unique selling point and therefore my market value. On the other hand, with their new found skills, many would seek alternative employment and I'd have to train their replacement! One six week contract lasted almost eighteen months, one of the best periods in my former career and certainly most lucrative.

 

[Just4Fun]

The article also mentions that “because of the particular skills required …. training an apprentice is not an option” as it would be “hard and very long winded, due to the skills involved”.

I have never tried stained glass work, but my gut feeling is that the range of skills involved is probably no greater than for many other trades. Am I wrong in that?

I appreciate that small specialist family firms may not be able to afford to invest time and money in training apprentices but, if no one does, then trades will surely die out.

I would think the cost (in time and money) is the main reason any small business doesn't train apprentices, and it is perfectly understandable. Yet how did these people learn the trade? What is really preventing them doing exactly the same as the people who taught them?

I once met a guy who restored wood panelling in stately homes. Another apparently dying trade but he said there was a paradox. Whilst the amount of work was low there were fewer and fewer people around with the skills to do it so the rates he could charge were rising and the work was more profitable than when he had started.

 

[MikeG.]

......I’m not sure that the restoration of old stained glass is, in fact, “a dying trade” but, if it is, perhaps this is due to the lack of training opportunities available. I appreciate that small specialist family firms may not be able to afford to invest time and money in training apprentices but, if no one does, then trades will surely die out.

Don't you think that a business for whom this is their daily bread will know whether or not the trade is dying, and, respectfully, rather better than you might? They also say that they have all the labour they need, so it isn't labour shortages driving the decline of this business, but lack of demand. In all the hundreds and hundreds of projects I've been involved with over the years, I have only once needed stained glass specialists (compared with many, many projects involving leaded lights, for instance). Stained glass was a big thing in the 1930s when many if not most houses were built with stained glass windows, but it really isn't now.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I once met a guy who restored wood panelling in stately homes. Another apparently dying trade but he said there was a paradox. Whilst the amount of work was low there were fewer and fewer people around with the skills to do it so the rates he could charge were rising and the work was more profitable than when he had started.

It was common at one time for tradesmen only to take apprentices in the years immediately before they retired. The apprentice then moved into the job the master had vacated, for one guaranteeing him a job and for two ensuring no over supply of trained people.

 

[lurker]

There are three stained glass restorers in my town. All three are on the same trading estate and cooperate in their work.
One also runs courses/ workshops for anyone interested. I have been going to one these for nearly two years now. All courses are well subscribed and become weekly social events too.
The owner does some quite remarkable work restoring very old windows. Her real expertise is the painted sections. This is not actual "paint" as we know it so even 400 year old glass comes up like new.
It's an interesting skill set and appears to be thriving so far as I can see judging by the the many suppliers of glass and ancillaries.

 

[bourbon]

There is a certain irony when companies cry 'we can't get the engineers, HGV drivers, bricklayers etc' The very same companies were the ones that stopped doing apprentice training in the '80's. Not to be too political , when the industry training board's were abolished, companies couldn't afford to train. Now it's all coming home to roost.

 

[Rorschach]

No incentive to train competition when you are making a good living working in a dying trade. Especially if there is sufficient demand that you can charge a premium for your work, high quality or not.

I have met and spoken to a few people who are in very niche trades that you might consider dying. When I asked them about training they said they didn't want to based on this very reason. They were charging a high premium for their work and had people coming to them as they had little choice. Even if they trained just 1 other person to a similar standard they would be halving their yearly income at a minimum, so why would they want to train others when they have a comfortable life working gently a few days a week for a large sum of money.
What is sad though is that in a lot of cases these people learned their craft from someone who had to work a lot harder for a lot less money and gave their knowledge freely.

 

[Lonsdale73]

That relates to an earlier post that said apprentices used to be taken on close to the end of the "master's" career. Makes sound sense too.

I left my former career nearly ten years ago now. I spent the last few years training eastern Europeans who would work for a fraction of the money a Brit would. Three of the last four companies I was contracted to were staffed almost entirely by EE agency workers, mostly on zero hour contracts and often treated extremely shabbily as they had no rights to speak of. It got to a point where I found I was having to travel further and further afield for less and less money. The last position I was offered came with a salary of £9000 (NINE THOUSAND) for 25 years industry experience, because that's what they could get away with paying some 16 year old on a 'monkey see, monkey do' basis.

After deciding it was time to move on, I turned to the one other thing I was good at - photography - and spent the next few years establishing a decent reputation within a real niche sector. I was forever being approached by people - 'hobbyists' - who wanted to learn more about the medium. Perhaps because of my background I couldn't help but help. Three of them subsequently displaced me from the accounts I'd spent years nurturing. I forget the woman's name however few years back she landed herself in some real hot water by declaring "We're all photographers now!" - certainly, everyone and anyone with so much as smartphone now thinks they are. I know one young girl who has set herself up as a 'professional' photographer, has her own website and facebook page, despite the fact she's only 13 and has nothing more than a phone.

 

[AndyT]

In May 2017, the Heritage Crafts Association published a "Red List" to draw attention to the crafts which its research showed as being at risk of dying out.

It's a thorough piece of work, giving the numbers of active craftspeople, sources of training, etc. It also highlights risks including that sometimes amateur practitioners can outnumber (and undercut) professionals.

The crafts at highest risk include some very relevant on here, such as plane and saw making, alongside more obscure trades such as Devon maund* making and clay pipe making.

You can see extracts by category or download it all here.

https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/redlist/


* I didn't know either. It's a sort of basket with a solid base.

 

[thetyreman]

I might become a globemaker, then I'll have the whole world in my hands...

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yup. Your future will be mapped out.

 

[heimlaga]

I seem to be dabbling in quite a few endangered crafts....... but I am not fast enough doing it to qualify as a skilled craftsman.