Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Study of this syllabus, detailed in a comprehensive 60-page booklet, reveals
an emphasis on a holistic approach to the craft, in order to provide sound
theoretical and technological education supplementing a wide range of prac-
tical skill elements. Although greatly reduced in comparison with earlier syl-
labi, gauged brickwork was retained. It was not, however, always expressly
described as such within an overall topic area. For example, in Brickwork
'Craft Theory' the syllabus required knowledge of:
Setting out, temporary support and construction of cambered, segmental and
semi-circular arches, straight on plan up to 3 m span.
In the 'Associated Subjects', the requirement was for the student to learn:
Geometry of the circle, segment, sector, chords and tangents. Applications to set-
ting out arch forms and curved work.
This was consolidated by the stated 'Practical Activities' for the student to
practise:
Setting out, cutting and building camber, segmental and semi-circular arches.
W.G. Nash, Head of the Department of Construction at Southampton Technical
College, in his three volumed work published in 1966, that was originally
intended for the four year apprenticeship, describes setting out, cutting, and
constructing gauged niches and arches circular on plan and elevation. This is
a craft area termed 'circle-on-circle' work that was not retained within the syl-
labus of the three-year City and Guilds apprenticeship.
In 1979 H. Bailey and D.W. Hancock, Senior Lecturers at Stockport College
of Technology in Lancashire, published on the perceived needs of the three-
year apprenticeship, but significantly there was minimal reference to gauged
work, being restricted to camber arch construction alone (Bailey and Hancock,
1979, 60-61):
…known as camber or Georgian arches. These are constructed of bricks known
as rubbers, which are soft enough to be cut with a bow saw and rubbed on a stone
to the exact shape required.
The simplistic explanation of how to set-out and cut a gauged camber arch
reveals the resigned attitude towards this branch of the craft (Bailey and
Hancock, 1979, 67):
The traditional method is much more complicated and is considered beyond the
scope of craft certificate students, as is the building of this arch.
At Bedford College of Higher Education during the 1980s, as Head of Trowel
Trades the author set about broadening the curricula for the second and
third-year apprentices. This move was intended to allow apprentices to gain
