Don’t know your wattle from your daub? There are plenty of places to learn all the skills needed to restore a historic building to its original glory.

— Start with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB: 020 7377 1644, www.spab.org.uk ), which offers Homeowners’ Weekends, on everything from damp-proofing to listed-building consent, from £140.

— If sole plates and studwork are a mystery, then try the three-day course in timber-framing organised by Essex County Historic Buildings and Conservation department (£205; 01245 437672, www.essexcc.gov.uk ). They can also teach you how to repair a flint wall, while a workshop in wattle and daub should help you to mug up on neolithic housebuilding techniques.

— If you are serious about your stonework, the Building Crafts College (020 8522 1705, www.thecarpenterscompany.co.uk ) in Stratford, east London, runs evening classes for £17 a go. The Orton Trust (01536 711600, www.ortontrust.org.uk ) has three-day courses in traditional masonry and modern stonework for £145: if you don’t know what a quoin is before this, you will once you’re done.

— If you want to get down and dirty, Abey Smallcombe (01647 24145, www.abeysmallcombe.com ), near Exeter, offers a day’s instruction on everything to do with building in cob for £95.

— Some of the most popular restoration courses — with homeowners and conservation officers alike — are those that deal with using lime mortar. SPAB runs a range around the country; Mike Wye & Associates (01409 281644, www.mikewye.co.uk ) offers one-day courses from its base in Devon for £70; and Calch Ty-Mawr Lime (01874 658249, www.lime.org.uk), in Powys, offers a one-day “anyone can do it” course for £92.

— More prosaically, you could improve your plastering skills with 10 weeks of lessons at Lambeth College (020 7501 5478, www. lambethcollege.ac.uk ) or on a weekend course with Gold Trowel in Essex (£240; 0800 783 1450, www.goldtrowel.org ).

Online extras:

To access a full list of over 20 SPAB courses from long straw thatching to eco-efficiency then visit: SPAB

West Sussex Weald and Downland open-air museum (01243 811 363, www.wealddown.co.uk ) run a highly popular five-day course in timber framing from scratch (£450), so if sole plates and studwork are as yet a mystery, this will show you where to start.

The Cornwall Sustainable Building Trust (01726 68654, www.csbt.org.uk ) has a wide variety of courses that deal with cob buildings.

If you’re brave enough to tackle the roof, then The Builder Training Centre in Croydon (0800 389 277, www.buildertrainingcentre.co.uk ) runs intensive five-day courses in roof construction (£450) and tiling (£350). If you have a thatched roof that needs attention. Essex County Council (details as above) run a two-day introductory course to long-straw thatching (£150). Meanwhile the Cornwall Sustainable Building Trust (details as above) runs a one-day course that examines the options and techniques for roofing and cladding buildings with wood.

Meanwhile iIf your demands are more esoteric, there will be a course to fit. Should your desire be for a traditional flint wall, Essex County Council (details as above) will oblige with a three-day, hands-on course (£205). I

www.listedpropertyshow.co.uk

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