Steve Coupland, a longstanding member of William Birch & Son’s construction team, is spending six months scaling the heights of York Minster, following a training place supported by the Traditional Building Skills Bursary Scheme to develop his skills as a stonemason.
Before starting his secondment, Steve Coupland had been a bricklayer at many of William Birch’s projects around the city – Birch was also involved in the construction of the Minster Library in 1998 – and when an opportunity came along to train alongside some of the finest masons in the country, the company supported Steve joining the team repairing masonry on the 13th century Minster.
“I’d been interested in stone masonry as a hobby, and had taken a few evening classes to learn a little more about the skill, but being able to learn on such a landmark project has been a fantastic experience,” said Steve. “We leave a mason’s mark on each piece of stonework that we replace, so it is remarkable to think that the next time someone will see mine will be in another 400 years, when the next renovation project takes place!”
Steve’s commitment is impressive: he achieved his Level 2 NVQ earlier this year, and in the process gained York College ’s Marazion Prize for ‘Dedication in Stonemasonry Studies’.
