Built Heritage

I was pleased to meet recently with Mr John McRitchie, a traditional carpenter based in Crossford.  John is a shining example of a young man passionate about the preservation of historic and listed buildings and of time-honoured building craft skills. 

He was the first Scot to earn a place on the Prince of Wales’s prestigious Building Craft Apprenticeship programme.  Not content to rest on his laurels, he followed this with the launch of his own business, Heritage Skills Scotland.

With the news so full of economic gloom, what impresses me most about John is his unflagging optimism and vision.  His self-stated ambition is to ‘inspire people, once again, to build beautiful buildings from natural materials.’ I fully empathise with his objectives of conserving our heritage and of building sustainable new projects.

John’s work ethos and tireless drive are a model to other young people who want to go into business. Indeed, he aims to provide courses in the future.  The journey ahead will no doubt be full of challenges, but I am certain it will be rewarding. I wish him all the best.

The above was originally written for Bill’s Dunfermline Press column. This version may vary slightly.