Thank you Iain for your comments, video and support. Heritage Skills Academy had one employer and 8 mechanical apprentices in 2016. We now have 130 mechanical and 50 Coachbuilding apprentices and 150 specialist classic vehicle employers across the UK. It is a pleasure for the HSA Team to work with every one of them, we combine old skills and knowledge with cutting edge technology and produce outstanding problem solving engineers. I have no doubt that they will go on to be future leaders of this varied and fascinating industry.
As someone who has worked as a mechanical engineer in Ireland for the last 38 years, I applaud what you're doing here. Apprenticeships in particular are key and I endeavour to employ them whenever feasible. I also had the privilege of sitting in the cockpit of a retired Concord many years ago in New York at the USS Intrepid exhibit. It and the Saturn 5 rocket were the pinnacle of 1960s engineering.
@@importanttingwei7747 I can only speak for the business I'm part of; our apprentices are treated fairly. Sure they're paid less than those fully qualified, as pay in our business is strictly performance related. We have engineers who were apprentices themselves decades ago, and who completed further education while working, which together with their vast experience, loyalty and commitment, now means they are highly paid (high five figures/ low six figures total package in Euro). Those same senior engineers devote quite a lot of their time to providing on the job training to the apprentices; passing on their skills is something they generally enjoy, and it's often done outside of normal working hours. The potential for unfair treatment or exploitation of apprentices is significantly mitigated in our environment. As well as having most of the rights and privileges as full time employees, their work experience is very closely monitored and assessed by their course training college. Detailed weekly logs of what went well/not so well in their work experience are submitted to the college, and the college has a named person responsible for reviewing any work related issues.
@Importanttingwei all newer apprentices get a bit of stick generally. You hold your own and it builds your character, then you prove yourself and win people over. It isn't for everyone. The newer apprentices tend not to have the same work ethic or impetus as previous generations, they seem to be more concerned with their phones and social media and far too quick to give up. Not to mention society now everyone generally wants instant gratification and don't want to work their way up it would seem. It's a shame really the country is crying out for apprentices in basically every field
This is great and reassuring! Also compliments for Grace, she really knows where she is talking about! Thank you Iain, this is crucial for bringing the skills to the future!
Unfortunately, in the UK, a lot of car mechanics I've had the misfortune of dealing with are incompetent and / or corrupt. Iain and his band of merry men are the exception and not the rule when it comes to professionalism and honesty.
You are just a badass starting a video in the Concorde. I knew a fellow jazz musician (Phil Woods) who flew on Concorde a few times, on one occasion flying back with Dizzy Gillespie.
Ah Concorde! The solution to a problem that never existed and only ever saw service with the two national carriers of the countries that were nearly bankrupted by it.
As a kid I always wanted to be a mechanic, but a teacher once told me, so wrongly now I look back, that I “could do better”. Well now I work a job I hate & only wish I had stuck to my childhood goal. It’s so important to do something you love, not what you think is expected of you.
It’s so reassuring to see these young people getting a proper education. When “Harry’s Garage” was restoring his Lancia, a lot of concern was went into the fact, that there just wasn’t any bodyparts to be had, so they pulled out a very much mature gentleman who singlehanded created the bodyparts needed. Which was basically all of them. Painstaintly accurate and top notch in every sense. There’s a new breed af talents out there. 😊👌
The guy who did Harrys Lancia panels should be contacted by Heritage academy, his metalworking skills were absolutely brilliant, would be lovely if he were to pass on those skills to future generations
Well done, Iain!... Amazing Grace! Awesome to see the heritage skills being nurtured and bought back to a younger generation to ensure a future of the key skills. It's rewarding and a very well-paid career choice. Everyone, if you liked this, please spread the word and share this video please!
Wish this had been around when I started mechanics, i went to nearly every garage in my area looking for an apprenticeship and turned away for being to old (21). Eventually got my break at a hgv garage, not the classics I wanted to work on and a very different trade. I bought my own classic and am now restoring it, you get there on your own way. Excellent to see the industry finally noticing the shortage of skills.
What an achievement, Iain. Seeing Grace and her colleagues gives me hope and inspiration that the "old school" methods are not abandoned. They are the building blocks of what we have today - the basics. And they deserve to be relevant.
Served my Apprenticeship at British Aircraft Corporation. BAC at Weybridge Brooklands, as a Welder between 1974 to 78. First projects I worked on was spares for the Vanguards then BAC 1-11s, and VC10, but mainly on Concorde.Left Weybridge in 1979 to work at Roll- Royce in Bristol mainly working on the Pegasus for the Harrier. Still working ( just ) on Airbus wing parts. Has been a good interesting career and I have never had a day of unemployed in 48 year's of working life
This is something I've been I've been talking about for years. Encouraging not just young people but anyone who is interested in learning the "old skills" . As a point of interest, I immediately spotted the Ranalah English Wheel. These are now being remanufactured by Dominic Chinea of the Repair Shop TV series. He discovered a very old original, in a garden in the South East of England. The wheels were in a sad state but they have been used as patterns, digitally scanned & are now also being manufactured. If my memory serves me correctly, these English Wheel machines go back to the late 1930's and were used to fabricate panels for aircraft of the second World War. The company seems to have closed its doors after the war. Perhaps the HSA would be interested in contacting Dom' for more information. He has a RUclips channel with contact details. Thanks for sharing the visit to Brooklands Iain, it's been a pleasure to see young people learning the old skills. I'm off to put my archaic feet up👍👍
Firstly , great video !! 👍( as is the norm from Tyrrells Classic Workshop ) . Secondly , isn't it great to see the enthusiasm and interest from the students + mentors in the video . A credit to all involved in the Heritage Skills Academy at Brooklands Museum 👍
Great video Iain ! I work for City & Guilds who have a long history of being involved in Automotive and Engineering Apprenticeship Training and Assessment. Its great to see you celebrating and promoting all things around skills, learning and Apprenticeships. This will certainly help the Heritage Engineering Sector as the numbers coming forward from employers for this type of Apprenticeship are still quite low, compared to Vehicle Technician Apprenticeships and Damage Repair Paint, Panel and MET Technicians. Keep up the good work
The world has been on such a high for so long we seem to have forgotten where we are going next, the reason we cant afford the basics atm maybe, i will never forget my YTS training, i hope England dosnt forget what made us so proud and successfully.
Being a young classic car enthusiast and a fresher of fall 2023 for Bachelor's of Automobile Restoration at McPherson College, i think this place can provide people the opportunity of learning various skill sets to specialize in restoration of classic cars.
Funny, I came here because of Harry''s Garage which I enjoyed so much. I now find Ian's channel so much more interesting. All these new supercars are getting a tad bit boring now, they all look, sound and drive similar and if you're in the London area, they are everywhere now. anyone with a deposit to put down and a few grand a month can buy a supercar and manage to insurance it. I so much more enjoy these videos dedicated to classic car cars with so much more character and these videos demonstrating the engineering behind them. Thanks so much Ian & team.
It’s a pity that this government don’t do more for apprenticeships we are going backwards in this country be the government don’t want to spend money unless it’s for their own personal benefits
Fantastic Iain and that comes from a then young Engineer in BAe at a time lucky enough to meet and work with some of the original Concorde Engineers albeit when it was already 17 yrs old and attended the 20 yr celebration in France as well. A project unlikely to be repeated. Great to see those youngsters being trained in fundamental skills.
This first thing I thought of one when I saw this video was the amazing chap who did the bodywork on Harry’s lancia. And Iain covered those skills first!
In industry today, it seems that the employers are reluctant to take on apprentices. The employers seem to hold the view of the apprentice as "What if I (spend time and money to) train them, and then they leave?" The response to this is "What if you don't train them, and they stay?" That is to say "How many jobs/ processes will they ruin through lack of training?" Once the apprentice has reached an industry standard of training - hopefully with City and Guilds/NVQ etc. the newly qualified individual becomes a "journeyman". However, this is just the beginning. The real training experience begins in the chosen trade and is life long learning. Real tradespeople are developing their skills all their working life and "keep walking towards the light".
"mature" at mid-30's 😅 I know how you feel! What a brilliant video, bang on with the theme. So glad to see that the traditional skills are being maintained. Well done Ian!
So, what happened? Careers in engineering became ever less interesting in the UK, property/finance speculation is the name of the game. Sad, so much unused talent - and Britain now is where it is as a result . Having just watched the video, it is inspiring to see young people interested in this kind of work, hope their careers develop. Thanks Ian for this!
The art of fabrication, ie...how to "make" something is a key skill needed if we are to retain our classic cars in the age of disposable electronic modules and video screens. How to repair and remanufacture such exotic parts such as suspension components, gearboxes etc is something we can not afford to let perish.
What a wonderful insight. I wasn't expecting this Ian, thank you. I am a (ahem) more senior also, just on a journey of discovery myself and learning how to renovate a modern classic car over the last four years. I shall certainly being looking at some of their courses myself. Love the aviation link too. Concorde, built using slide rules and gents with pencils! If you want an eye opener for another TCW, have a trip to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight hanger up here in Lincolnshire. Those boys take restoration to another level...
It is very important to train younger people to take over when the older people are No longer around, so vintage cars trains aeroplanes etc can still be around and kept running!!!!
Refurbish, Restore, Repair, Reuse, Recycle - how you create a sustainable society - instead of buying something new every couple of years or so due to 'planned obsolescence' & marketing-driven consumerism...
A most wonderful initiative. It is quite pleasing to see that these vocational skills, or rather heritage crafts amongst generations are being passed on. You’d almost forget that in an age of touchscreens and a society embedded in elaborate electronic high-tech, advanced science, the brains shown here are being very much required indeed, and understanding the very basics of these crafts of course does scale into a wide range of vehicle production from classic up to modern. Excellent.
Just wonderful to know that there are young people who want to do creative hands-on work, and keep real craftsmanship alive. This is where art and craft merge.
I reckon you can definitely draw a direct link to youngsters working with their hands on more simple things such as the English wheel, and these great engineering achievements that really push the edge of the envelope, such as the Concorde. Which by the way, as a joint development between UK & France is a real testament to what can be achieved when countries combine their resources to work together in a way that advances humanity. In a documentary they showed all the work that went into fixing the metal fatigue/creep issue - mind boggling stuff, all analogue human intellect. It was the sort of project that makes an entire generation of people actually want to study engineering and should result in benefits filtering down through to other things. That’s why these sort of big keystone projects are so important for society at large, it leads to widespread advances beyond the initial. Terrible the loss of life, but only one major incident in 27 years and it wasn’t even due to a defect in the design. Who would have known to mitigate the risk of other planes dropping pieces of metal onto the runway, Concorde really was a masterpiece.
This is Wonderful, I was lucky enough to go to a High School that had full Technical workshops, sheet metal, lath work, welding, wood working, technical drawing, etc. Wonderful grounding, that sticks to you for life. Unfortunately now all gone here in Australia.
That was great fun to see all the new young guys, coming into your industry! It was lovely to see your passion too! Our family firm ceased in 1983! It had a wonderful old guillotine, which my grandfather brought back in 1948! It was second hand then, it used to be powered by a long learner belt? For years I used to wonder why did it have that belt! Then I realised it had to have been steam driven! It worked faultlessly in our firm! Sadly I could not get it into a museum! So it got broken up! It used to sound like a London Underground train arrive at the station! I tell you that as I loved seeing the rolling machines that create curves in metal and felt that had to be a similar age to this wonderful guillotine we once had! That was delightful and once again thank you! P.S I hope you enjoyed your flight too 😉
Great to see this. Ex SAAB Master Technician here. I did my apprenticeship at Saab and still work with them now 35 years later, so was cool to see a 900i in the training center !.
Brilliant Iain A lot of Master engineers & craftsman /women will be required to be replaced over time Very few employers invest in the youngsters today Very sad This should change ✌🏼🏴
Thank you, this brings back memories or nearly 50 years ago entering the Ford Engineering Apprenticeship system at Harold Hill, 2 years basic training combined with lock release at colleague as in your video then a lucky placement in product development good to see this has restarted
Can't agree more with others. Apprenticeships are a vital career path and have been in decline for 30 years. This is why channels like yours Ian are key to getting young people interested in Engineering and Science and seeing that there really are no barriers to getting started. that's what I wanted to say when I met you on Saturday in Llangollen, only my wife said I was waffling too much. Sorry if I disturbed you.
Great comments Iain from the flight deck of Concorde, how could those achievements not inspire the youngsters. The country can’t afford to loose these skills 👍👍👍👍
Absolutely outstanding I am so enthused to see this going on. So often in my industry we see corporations just abandon dated skill set’s instead of up skilling people to the new standards by investing in the single true value of their business. ‘The people’ Then cry out to government saying we can’t get the staff can they import them and ditch the skills and people, leaving them on the crap heap of life, when in truth the very best engineers come from those who have the holistic knowledge of the past combined with the new. Treating people as a commodity is today at an epidemic level of destruction and undermines things like trust, locality and is not surprising why people only care about how much they earn and nothing else.
Really good to see this - many thanks for sharing this video Iain and good luck to all those going through their training. Perhaps a good place to spot potential employees for the workshop!
Im 36 and got into classics around 22. My recent restoration which i did myself is a 67 chevelle ss that was completely rotten, i welded ( replaced) have the chassis and body myself. Heck even most modern body shops today wouldnt tackle that, if you see how bad it was But yeah we are losing the skilled old skool mechanics.
Very encouraging to see this. The students will be lot happier and more employable than some graduate in "Postmodern Studies" or other academic rubbish. If you enjoy this, look for Wray Schelin's Pro-Shaper channel or Lazze's. They demonstrate some of the skills, but of course it's not the same as grappling with a real piece of metal. Fitzee's Fabrications is another one, though I suspect that some of his standards and methods would make Iain cringe.
One wonders if this should be regulation for kids who cannot find employment but who are intelligent enough or want to learn. Computers have taken over the world as, when selling computers and parts many years ago, I predicted. But I also said that there would be jobs that no computer could ever do. Thanks Iain for superbly making just that point. There will always be employment for age old skills which need the human touch. Thanks for this video Iain....just what British Industry and Heritage requires. Cheers, Bob
This brought back fond memories; I was an apprentice back in 1980 and spent the 1st year doing all facets of engineering from fabrication, welding, machining and electrics . These skills have stood me in good stead in later life maintaining old cars initially as a student and also knowing when somebody was trying to take the pi55 ; most recently a Ferrari main dealer quoting £980 to change 8 spark plugs and £240 for a windscreen wiper, never mind £120 to charge a battery 🤨. Sadly, not all in the car profession are as honest as Tyrell’s . So nice to see a younger generation finally acknowledge that “not everyone needs a degree” to have a career 👍
It’s great to see over the pond as they say . Wonderful apprenticeship programs with enthusiastic students and great staff support. Unfortunately he in the USA the 25-54 prime groups seam to have checked out of the hands on type work. Just us very old Dino still keeping the skills alive. Your guess as good as mine who will step up, maybe just all robotics from here on in. He watch out flying that Concorde back to base I hear they have a real fire issue wonderful video
I remember as a teenage boy in mid 70s being fascinated by Concorde and also the Vulcan. Being a scout, earnt my mechanic badge with a fellow scout restoring a Triumph Spitfire , driving my mother mad coming home covered in dust/oil etc. The car was sold to pay for the construction start of a new scout building, which still is in use today. I'm a great believer in apprenticeships, skills learnt and earnt, positively going towards the future technology. Great vid.
I am so inspired by Grace's views and comments, this young lady should be a leader in our industry, well spoken, very well knowledgeable and in processes, good on you, i hope to see you make it big time in the future
Me too Ellis! City & Guilds are still gong strong and are involved in thousands of Motor Vehicle Apprenticeships around the UK and Internationally as the Assessment Organisation and Qualifications Provider
Iain would make a wonderful Headmaster for Heritage Skills Academy. More so than his piloting skills, as he failed to announce "Clear Prop" prior to departure. 😉
Fantastic to see young people engaged in learning old manufacturing techniques. Not to nit-pick, but it is known as a wheeling machine, the term English wheel is an American term reflecting the origin of this machine. The remarkable thing about panel beating is the simple tools used to produce works of art, Geoff Moss of RPM motorsports in Cornwall probably one of the finest wheelers in the world produces perfect panels using his wheeling machine, a sandbag and a tree stump. The last two mentioned are skill sets that go back tens of centuries from the days of producing armour yet are still relevant today.
Fantastic video Iain! Might I add that the Russians stole the designs to the Concorde for their copy cat version and still couldn’t even get it to work properly. It was considered a flying death trap and I believe called the booze cruisers. Lol
Don't crash that Concorde, Iain! They're even pricier than Lamborghinis! I love the showcasing of up-and-coming talent in the classic car restoration industry. I don't see it so much as as learning a skill as enhancing a gift or pursuing a calling. As Iain's restoration videos reveal, many of these people are true geniuses.
Love Brooklands, just around the corner from me. Did they let you in Concorde simulator? Def worth a look. So jealous of all the people on that course, what fun and interesting times they are experiencing.
If you listen to the government, they just want graduates in finance and other white colour jobs, that´s their basic new immigration policy. Forget engineers, cooks, and all other manual labour jobs. A country that does not encourage and support those jobs is a country that produces nothing of real lasting value. It is interesting but this has been recognised in the Swiss watch industry and they have started apprentices in watchmaking and on top of that there are a small group of high-end independent watchmakers who have created a scheme to teach young watchmakers all the hand making aspects of watchmaking that are being lost to computers.
It's great seeing people being enthusiastic about improving their skills and knowledge. I'm working in the steel industry for over 17 years now, learned mechatronics and work as an electrician maintaining all sorts of systems at the steel mill and now blast furnace. And over the years apprentices have become rare in numbers and sometimes very dodgy in terms of their commitment - I guess classic cars spark a lot more passion than general mechanic and electronic systems detached from a hobby you can enjoy in the free time ;-)
With modern cars becoming throwaway units, there isn't much left to restore honestly? The old classics that we love on this channel are becoming more and more uncommon to restore. You need to be a millionaire to afford a car restoration if you'e been keeping your eyes open. The common man/woman can't afford that luxury. So it's a combination of problems and i really don't see this trade continuing on the way it always was in the past.
This was a really, really heartening video with a sense that eminently worthwhile skills, all the more noteworthy for being hard to master, are being passed down. Slightly uncharitably, I always assumed that they were being lost and that young people were wholly uninterested. I know now that isn't true.
My introduction to the "English-wheel" went like, "this is the English wheel, it is very good for two things, removing thumb nails and shaping metal, we only use it to shape metal, use it for anything else at your own peril"
Inspiring! So glad you made this video Iain, it’s always been clear from the way you do things you care about the handing down of skills and great to see what’s happening at Brooklands.
Brilliant! Love the Variety you cover and this such an important topic. So good to know that there is training for younger generations like this. Thank you Iain ❤️
Thank you for making this video which highlights that there are foundations such as Brooklands leading the way in encouraging the youngsters to learn these otherwise to become forgotten skills.
Thank you Iain for your comments, video and support. Heritage Skills Academy had one employer and 8 mechanical apprentices in 2016. We now have 130 mechanical and 50 Coachbuilding apprentices and 150 specialist classic vehicle employers across the UK. It is a pleasure for the HSA Team to work with every one of them, we combine old skills and knowledge with cutting edge technology and produce outstanding problem solving engineers. I have no doubt that they will go on to be future leaders of this varied and fascinating industry.
As someone who has worked as a mechanical engineer in Ireland for the last 38 years, I applaud what you're doing here. Apprenticeships in particular are key and I endeavour to employ them whenever feasible. I also had the privilege of sitting in the cockpit of a retired Concord many years ago in New York at the USS Intrepid exhibit. It and the Saturn 5 rocket were the pinnacle of 1960s engineering.
but new apprentices are usually treated unfairly over other older expierenced workers in the jobsite
@@importanttingwei7747 I can only speak for the business I'm part of; our apprentices are treated fairly. Sure they're paid less than those fully qualified, as pay in our business is strictly performance related. We have engineers who were apprentices themselves decades ago, and who completed further education while working, which together with their vast experience, loyalty and commitment, now means they are highly paid (high five figures/ low six figures total package in Euro).
Those same senior engineers devote quite a lot of their time to providing on the job training to the apprentices; passing on their skills is something they generally enjoy, and it's often done outside of normal working hours. The potential for unfair treatment or exploitation of apprentices is significantly mitigated in our environment. As well as having most of the rights and privileges as full time employees, their work experience is very closely monitored and assessed by their course training college. Detailed weekly logs of what went well/not so well in their work experience are submitted to the college, and the college has a named person responsible for reviewing any work related issues.
@@dellhell8842 Thoughtful and honest response to some twat who made an irrelevant generic ill informed comment to troll the conversation.
My young son also visited the Intrepid and the Concorde. He is based in NZ and was there yesterday. Serendipity
@Importanttingwei all newer apprentices get a bit of stick generally. You hold your own and it builds your character, then you prove yourself and win people over. It isn't for everyone.
The newer apprentices tend not to have the same work ethic or impetus as previous generations, they seem to be more concerned with their phones and social media and far too quick to give up. Not to mention society now everyone generally wants instant gratification and don't want to work their way up it would seem. It's a shame really the country is crying out for apprentices in basically every field
This is great and reassuring! Also compliments for Grace, she really knows where she is talking about! Thank you Iain, this is crucial for bringing the skills to the future!
Unfortunately, in the UK, a lot of car mechanics I've had the misfortune of dealing with are incompetent and / or corrupt. Iain and his band of merry men are the exception and not the rule when it comes to professionalism and honesty.
You are just a badass starting a video in the Concorde. I knew a fellow jazz musician (Phil Woods) who flew on Concorde a few times, on one occasion flying back with Dizzy Gillespie.
Excellent….. did they fly at Mark 6??
@@iain_tyrrell I see what you did there 😉
@@iain_tyrrell haha. Phil and I always fly at Mark 6, but only 1959 vintage
The next gen of Tyrrells lol
Ah Concorde! The solution to a problem that never existed and only ever saw service with the two national carriers of the countries that were nearly bankrupted by it.
As a kid I always wanted to be a mechanic, but a teacher once told me, so wrongly now I look back, that I “could do better”. Well now I work a job I hate & only wish I had stuck to my childhood goal. It’s so important to do something you love, not what you think is expected of you.
Grace's enthusiasm and knowledge is inspiring.
Absolutely. That's the kind of personality that turns any skill into passion.
Star of the show. Love grace ❤
Incredibly impressive knowledge; I wonder if she can do it all as well..
Wonderful Iain! Great to actually see a whole new generation learning these vital skills. Grace and all her colleagues doing superb work! 👍🏻 👏🏻
Grace is a very well spoken young woman. I don’t remember Iain ever being at a loss for words. Is being a middle aged genius so daunting? Haha!
It’s so nice to see these young people learning a nearly lost mechanical art
It’s so reassuring to see these young people getting a proper education. When “Harry’s Garage” was restoring his Lancia, a lot of concern was went into the fact, that there just wasn’t any bodyparts to be had, so they pulled out a very much mature gentleman who singlehanded created the bodyparts needed. Which was basically all of them. Painstaintly accurate and top notch in every sense.
There’s a new breed af talents out there. 😊👌
The guy who did Harrys Lancia panels should be contacted by Heritage academy, his metalworking skills were absolutely brilliant, would be lovely if he were to pass on those skills to future generations
Well done, Iain!... Amazing Grace!
Awesome to see the heritage skills being nurtured and bought back to a younger generation to ensure a future of the key skills. It's rewarding and a very well-paid career choice.
Everyone, if you liked this, please spread the word and share this video please!
Wish this had been around when I started mechanics, i went to nearly every garage in my area looking for an apprenticeship and turned away for being to old (21). Eventually got my break at a hgv garage, not the classics I wanted to work on and a very different trade.
I bought my own classic and am now restoring it, you get there on your own way.
Excellent to see the industry finally noticing the shortage of skills.
Too old??? WTF
Great to see the Ranalah getting a mention! Nice tour!
Ian, you are such a positive figure in the car world. Loved this video!
Grace is brilliant, very well done 👍
What an achievement, Iain. Seeing Grace and her colleagues gives me hope and inspiration that the "old school" methods are not abandoned.
They are the building blocks of what we have today - the basics. And they deserve to be relevant.
Served my Apprenticeship at British Aircraft Corporation. BAC at Weybridge Brooklands, as a Welder between 1974 to 78. First projects I worked on was spares for the Vanguards then BAC 1-11s, and VC10, but mainly on Concorde.Left Weybridge in 1979 to work at Roll- Royce in Bristol mainly working on the Pegasus for the Harrier. Still working ( just ) on Airbus wing parts. Has been a good interesting career and I have never had a day of unemployed in 48 year's of working life
This is something I've been I've been talking about for years. Encouraging not just young people but anyone who is interested in learning the "old skills" . As a point of interest, I immediately spotted the Ranalah English Wheel. These are now being remanufactured by Dominic Chinea of the Repair Shop TV series. He discovered a very old original, in a garden in the South East of England. The wheels were in a sad state but they have been used as patterns, digitally scanned & are now also being manufactured. If my memory serves me correctly, these English Wheel machines go back to the late 1930's and were used to fabricate panels for aircraft of the second World War. The company seems to have closed its doors after the war.
Perhaps the HSA would be interested in contacting Dom' for more information. He has a RUclips channel with contact details.
Thanks for sharing the visit to Brooklands Iain, it's been a pleasure to see young people learning the old skills. I'm off to put my archaic feet up👍👍
The Ranalah caught my eye as well. Great minds and all that. Dom has done a video on the HSA if you're intrested.
Dom doing a sterling job remanufacturing the English wheel
Firstly , great video !! 👍( as is the norm from Tyrrells Classic Workshop ) . Secondly , isn't it great to see the enthusiasm and interest from the students + mentors in the video . A credit to all involved in the Heritage Skills Academy at Brooklands Museum 👍
Great video Iain ! I work for City & Guilds who have a long history of being involved in Automotive and Engineering Apprenticeship Training and Assessment. Its great to see you celebrating and promoting all things around skills, learning and Apprenticeships. This will certainly help the Heritage Engineering Sector as the numbers coming forward from employers for this type of Apprenticeship are still quite low, compared to Vehicle Technician Apprenticeships and Damage Repair Paint, Panel and MET Technicians. Keep up the good work
Rekindling British Indusry and what we were (once) known for. More more.
The world has been on such a high for so long we seem to have forgotten where we are going next, the reason we cant afford the basics atm maybe, i will never forget my YTS training, i hope England dosnt forget what made us so proud and successfully.
Being a young classic car enthusiast and a fresher of fall 2023 for Bachelor's of Automobile Restoration at McPherson College, i think this place can provide people the opportunity of learning various skill sets to specialize in restoration of classic cars.
Funny, I came here because of Harry''s Garage which I enjoyed so much. I now find Ian's channel so much more interesting. All these new supercars are getting a tad bit boring now, they all look, sound and drive similar and if you're in the London area, they are everywhere now. anyone with a deposit to put down and a few grand a month can buy a supercar and manage to insurance it. I so much more enjoy these videos dedicated to classic car cars with so much more character and these videos demonstrating the engineering behind them. Thanks so much Ian & team.
It’s a pity that this government don’t do more for apprenticeships we are going backwards in this country be the government don’t want to spend money unless it’s for their own personal benefits
Fantastic Iain and that comes from a then young Engineer in BAe at a time lucky enough to meet and work with some of the original Concorde Engineers albeit when it was already 17 yrs old and attended the 20 yr celebration in France as well. A project unlikely to be repeated. Great to see those youngsters being trained in fundamental skills.
This first thing I thought of one when I saw this video was the amazing chap who did the bodywork on Harry’s lancia. And Iain covered those skills first!
In industry today, it seems that the employers are reluctant to take on apprentices. The employers seem to hold the view of the apprentice as "What if I (spend time and money to) train them, and then they leave?" The response to this is "What if you don't train them, and they stay?" That is to say "How many jobs/ processes will they ruin through lack of training?" Once the apprentice has reached an industry standard of training - hopefully with City and Guilds/NVQ etc. the newly qualified individual becomes a "journeyman". However, this is just the beginning. The real training experience begins in the chosen trade and is life long learning. Real tradespeople are developing their skills all their working life and "keep walking towards the light".
"mature" at mid-30's 😅 I know how you feel! What a brilliant video, bang on with the theme. So glad to see that the traditional skills are being maintained. Well done Ian!
So, what happened? Careers in engineering became ever less interesting in the UK, property/finance speculation is the name of the game. Sad, so much unused talent - and Britain now is where it is as a result . Having just watched the video, it is inspiring to see young people interested in this kind of work, hope their careers develop. Thanks Ian for this!
The art of fabrication, ie...how to "make" something is a key skill needed if we are to retain our classic cars in the age of disposable electronic modules and video screens.
How to repair and remanufacture such exotic parts such as suspension components, gearboxes etc is something we can not afford to let perish.
Great video. And seems like a really cool place. Should get the guy who did the bodywork for Harry's Fulvia to do a few lessons!
Perfect take off Ian. 👏 (you must of blown the vehicles and building behind well into touch) 18:25
What a wonderful insight. I wasn't expecting this Ian, thank you. I am a (ahem) more senior also, just on a journey of discovery myself and learning how to renovate a modern classic car over the last four years. I shall certainly being looking at some of their courses myself.
Love the aviation link too. Concorde, built using slide rules and gents with pencils! If you want an eye opener for another TCW, have a trip to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight hanger up here in Lincolnshire. Those boys take restoration to another level...
Great, thanks a lot, really enjoyed the enthusiasm from the lady you were talking to and the apprentices. Cheers.
Great set up there. See what youngsters can do when they have the passion and enthusiasm, wonderful.
It is very important to train younger people to take over when the older people are No longer around, so vintage cars trains aeroplanes etc can still be around and kept running!!!!
Great video. You should’ve given each student a piece of tubing for the carbs.
lol , when they stopped at the Moggie with the bonnet open I was 1/2 expecting Iain to break out some tubing
Dominic Chinea will be excited to see a Ranalah @9:50 ! He should offer them a new set of wheels ;-)
Refurbish, Restore, Repair, Reuse, Recycle - how you create a sustainable society - instead of buying something new every couple of years or so due to 'planned obsolescence' & marketing-driven consumerism...
Congratulations to Grace and all the Academy team to take over with such passion !
A most wonderful initiative. It is quite pleasing to see that these vocational skills, or rather heritage crafts amongst generations are being passed on. You’d almost forget that in an age of touchscreens and a society embedded in elaborate electronic high-tech, advanced science, the brains shown here are being very much required indeed, and understanding the very basics of these crafts of course does scale into a wide range of vehicle production from classic up to modern. Excellent.
Just wonderful to know that there are young people who want to do creative hands-on work, and keep real craftsmanship alive. This is where art and craft merge.
I reckon you can definitely draw a direct link to youngsters working with their hands on more simple things such as the English wheel, and these great engineering achievements that really push the edge of the envelope, such as the Concorde. Which by the way, as a joint development between UK & France is a real testament to what can be achieved when countries combine their resources to work together in a way that advances humanity.
In a documentary they showed all the work that went into fixing the metal fatigue/creep issue - mind boggling stuff, all analogue human intellect. It was the sort of project that makes an entire generation of people actually want to study engineering and should result in benefits filtering down through to other things. That’s why these sort of big keystone projects are so important for society at large, it leads to widespread advances beyond the initial.
Terrible the loss of life, but only one major incident in 27 years and it wasn’t even due to a defect in the design. Who would have known to mitigate the risk of other planes dropping pieces of metal onto the runway, Concorde really was a masterpiece.
Yet another wonderful upload sir, very inspiring to see such nice and eager young folk keen to learn such important skills, and Grace is amazing!
Great to see youngsters learning analog skills instead of developing neck and eye issues from staring at screens for the entire day.
Nice one Iain , your channel is certainly taking off these days, 👍👍.
Great place, lets not forget that Brooklands was the first ever purpose built race track. Owned by Mercedes
This is Wonderful, I was lucky enough to go to a High School that had full Technical workshops, sheet metal, lath work, welding, wood working, technical drawing, etc. Wonderful grounding, that sticks to you for life. Unfortunately now all gone here in Australia.
That was great fun to see all the new young guys, coming into your industry! It was lovely to see your passion too! Our family firm ceased in 1983! It had a wonderful old guillotine, which my grandfather brought back in 1948! It was second hand then, it used to be powered by a long learner belt? For years I used to wonder why did it have that belt! Then I realised it had to have been steam driven! It worked faultlessly in our firm! Sadly I could not get it into a museum! So it got broken up! It used to sound like a London Underground train arrive at the station! I tell you that as I loved seeing the rolling machines that create curves in metal and felt that had to be a similar age to this wonderful guillotine we once had! That was delightful and once again thank you! P.S I hope you enjoyed your flight too 😉
Great to see this. Ex SAAB Master Technician here. I did my apprenticeship at Saab and still work with them now 35 years later, so was cool to see a 900i in the training center !.
Long(ish) time (35 years) SAAB owner here. Thanks for looking after them.
Brilliant Iain
A lot of Master engineers & craftsman /women will be required to be replaced over time
Very few employers invest in the youngsters today
Very sad
This should change ✌🏼🏴
Dear Iain,
In grim times this was a tonic to watch. Concorde too. Thank you.
Superb. These skills are vital, and so are the analytical and design skills to support the future UK vehicle industry...run by Engineers.
I work with my hands. It is so important to our species to still have that ability. Bravo to the program.
fantastic video. great to see the apprentices learning the trade.
Thank you, this brings back memories or nearly 50 years ago entering the Ford Engineering Apprenticeship system at Harold Hill, 2 years basic training combined with lock release at colleague as in your video then a lucky placement in product development good to see this has restarted
Can't agree more with others. Apprenticeships are a vital career path and have been in decline for 30 years. This is why channels like yours Ian are key to getting young people interested in Engineering and Science and seeing that there really are no barriers to getting started. that's what I wanted to say when I met you on Saturday in Llangollen, only my wife said I was waffling too much. Sorry if I disturbed you.
Great comments Iain from the flight deck of Concorde, how could those achievements not inspire the youngsters. The country can’t afford to loose these skills 👍👍👍👍
Brilliant Iain, lovely to see and hear from such passionate people! :)
Absolutely outstanding I am so enthused to see this going on. So often in my industry we see corporations just abandon dated skill set’s instead of up skilling people to the new standards by investing in the single true value of their business. ‘The people’ Then cry out to government saying we can’t get the staff can they import them and ditch the skills and people, leaving them on the crap heap of life, when in truth the very best engineers come from those who have the holistic knowledge of the past combined with the new. Treating people as a commodity is today at an epidemic level of destruction and undermines things like trust, locality and is not surprising why people only care about how much they earn and nothing else.
Excellent to see so much enthusiasm. Hopefully this, and your other videos, will inspire others.
The U.S. needs a program such as this. We do have some schools such as McPherson College, but need more.
Fantastic information
Just fantastic.. Hands on skills are the best.
Really good to see this - many thanks for sharing this video Iain and good luck to all those going through their training. Perhaps a good place to spot potential employees for the workshop!
Im 36 and got into classics around 22. My recent restoration which i did myself is a 67 chevelle ss that was completely rotten, i welded ( replaced) have the chassis and body myself. Heck even most modern body shops today wouldnt tackle that, if you see how bad it was
But yeah we are losing the skilled old skool mechanics.
Very encouraging to see this. The students will be lot happier and more employable than some graduate in "Postmodern Studies" or other academic rubbish. If you enjoy this, look for Wray Schelin's Pro-Shaper channel or Lazze's. They demonstrate some of the skills, but of course it's not the same as grappling with a real piece of metal. Fitzee's Fabrications is another one, though I suspect that some of his standards and methods would make Iain cringe.
One wonders if this should be regulation for kids who cannot find employment but who are intelligent enough or want to learn. Computers have taken over the world as, when selling computers and parts many years ago, I predicted. But I also said that there would be jobs that no computer could ever do. Thanks Iain for superbly making just that point. There will always be employment for age old skills which need the human touch.
Thanks for this video Iain....just what British Industry and Heritage requires.
Cheers, Bob
This brought back fond memories; I was an apprentice back in 1980 and spent the 1st year doing all facets of engineering from fabrication, welding, machining and electrics . These skills have stood me in good stead in later life maintaining old cars initially as a student and also knowing when somebody was trying to take the pi55 ; most recently a Ferrari main dealer quoting £980 to change 8 spark plugs and £240 for a windscreen wiper, never mind £120 to charge a battery 🤨. Sadly, not all in the car profession are as honest as Tyrell’s . So nice to see a younger generation finally acknowledge that “not everyone needs a degree” to have a career 👍
I particularly remember living in London for 4 years, and at about 5.30PM, I would see Concorde in the sky. An amazing piece of engineering 😀
It’s great to see over the pond as they say . Wonderful apprenticeship programs with enthusiastic students and great staff support. Unfortunately he in the USA the 25-54 prime groups seam to have checked out of the hands on type work. Just us very old Dino still keeping the skills alive. Your guess as good as mine who will step up, maybe just all robotics from here on in. He watch out flying that Concorde back to base I hear they have a real fire issue wonderful video
I remember as a teenage boy in mid 70s being fascinated by Concorde and also the Vulcan. Being a scout, earnt my mechanic badge with a fellow scout restoring a Triumph Spitfire , driving my mother mad coming home covered in dust/oil etc. The car was sold to pay for the construction start of a new scout building, which still is in use today. I'm a great believer in apprenticeships, skills learnt and earnt, positively going towards the future technology. Great vid.
I am so inspired by Grace's views and comments, this young lady should be a leader in our industry, well spoken, very well knowledgeable and in processes, good on you, i hope to see you make it big time in the future
Did this kind of thing in the middle of the 80,s .YTS, youth training scheme and got my city and guilds. what memories this brings back 👍 thanks Iain.
Me too Ellis! City & Guilds are still gong strong and are involved in thousands of Motor Vehicle Apprenticeships around the UK and Internationally as the Assessment Organisation and Qualifications Provider
Thank you for the video and great to see the re-investment back into industry with careful thought as to the future.
Iain would make a wonderful Headmaster for Heritage Skills Academy. More so than his piloting skills, as he failed to announce "Clear Prop" prior to departure. 😉
Fantastic to see young people engaged in learning old manufacturing techniques. Not to nit-pick, but it is known as a wheeling machine, the term English wheel is an American term reflecting the origin of this machine. The remarkable thing about panel beating is the simple tools used to produce works of art, Geoff Moss of RPM motorsports in Cornwall probably one of the finest wheelers in the world produces perfect panels using his wheeling machine, a sandbag and a tree stump. The last two mentioned are skill sets that go back tens of centuries from the days of producing armour yet are still relevant today.
Fantastic video Iain! Might I add that the Russians stole the designs to the Concorde for their copy cat version and still couldn’t even get it to work properly. It was considered a flying death trap and I believe called the booze cruisers. Lol
Don't crash that Concorde, Iain! They're even pricier than Lamborghinis! I love the showcasing of up-and-coming talent in the classic car restoration industry. I don't see it so much as as learning a skill as enhancing a gift or pursuing a calling. As Iain's restoration videos reveal, many of these people are true geniuses.
Great to see youngsters motivated to learn these skills. Dom from the ‘Repair shop’ is currently producing Ranalagh wheeling machines….
Not like my 70s apprenticeship with BAe. What about forklift racing ? So many stories ….. 😁
Love Brooklands, just around the corner from me. Did they let you in Concorde simulator? Def worth a look. So jealous of all the people on that course, what fun and interesting times they are experiencing.
Ranalagh English wheels are back in production, see Dominic Chinea RUclips channel. So glad to see old skills being taught to young hands.
If you listen to the government, they just want graduates in finance and other white colour jobs, that´s their basic new immigration policy. Forget engineers, cooks, and all other manual labour jobs. A country that does not encourage and support those jobs is a country that produces nothing of real lasting value. It is interesting but this has been recognised in the Swiss watch industry and they have started apprentices in watchmaking and on top of that there are a small group of high-end independent watchmakers who have created a scheme to teach young watchmakers all the hand making aspects of watchmaking that are being lost to computers.
Grace is a very impressive individual, I can imagine quite a few companies would be interested in headhunting her away from Brooklands!
It's great seeing people being enthusiastic about improving their skills and knowledge. I'm working in the steel industry for over 17 years now, learned mechatronics and work as an electrician maintaining all sorts of systems at the steel mill and now blast furnace. And over the years apprentices have become rare in numbers and sometimes very dodgy in terms of their commitment - I guess classic cars spark a lot more passion than general mechanic and electronic systems detached from a hobby you can enjoy in the free time ;-)
Excellent, thanks ! I'm so pleased that these skills are still been taught somewhere.
With modern cars becoming throwaway units, there isn't much left to restore honestly? The old classics that we love on this channel are becoming more and more uncommon to restore. You need to be a millionaire to afford a car restoration if you'e been keeping your eyes open. The common man/woman can't afford that luxury. So it's a combination of problems and i really don't see this trade continuing on the way it always was in the past.
What a lovely Lady, plus some very eager youngsters wanting to learn and progress. Fantastic
Thanks for sharing Young Man.
This was a really, really heartening video with a sense that eminently worthwhile skills, all the more noteworthy for being hard to master, are being passed down. Slightly uncharitably, I always assumed that they were being lost and that young people were wholly uninterested. I know now that isn't true.
My introduction to the "English-wheel" went like, "this is the English wheel, it is very good for two things, removing thumb nails and shaping metal, we only use it to shape metal, use it for anything else at your own peril"
I'm a 48 year old teenager.
I have Alcathene pipe and a screwdriver.
Sign me up!
Please?
Hello?
In my humble opinion, the three most beautiful machines ever created by man are, the Spitfire, the E type Jag and Concord .
Inspiring! So glad you made this video Iain, it’s always been clear from the way you do things you care about the handing down of skills and great to see what’s happening at Brooklands.
Brilliant! Love the Variety you cover and this such an important topic. So good to know that there is training for younger generations like this. Thank you Iain ❤️
"practical skills are key" How i wish this kind of skills training/apprenticeship was available in my part of the world.
Thank you for making this video which highlights that there are foundations such as Brooklands leading the way in encouraging the youngsters to learn these otherwise to become forgotten skills.