Harry cements reputation as Yorkshire's best new bricklayer

Harry, 17, won the New to Competition category at the Yorkshire Regional final of the Guild of Bricklayers competition, staged at Bishop Burton College.

The competition was founded in 1932 and aims to promote and maintain the highest standards of craftsmanship in brickwork with Harry competing against nine other participants, who had been rated as the region’s most promising newcomers to the profession.

Commenting on his achievement, Sherburn in Elmet-based Harry credited College for providing him with the best preparation for the competition and, quite literally, the best tools for the job.

He said: “Winning the competition was something to be proud of and all of my family were happy. I was looking forward to it and felt prepared because I took a few days off work to be in College leading up to the competition and practiced with the help of the tutors.

“I used a set of tools from College and the tutors thought I was ready for it, so I felt confident. Our brief was to build a single brick wall with two returns.

“The returns are quite hard because you have to get them spot on. We also had to project a pattern on the wall, which is quite technical.”

Harry went on to stress how the combination of his college tuition in our newly-extended Construction Centre and on-site experience with Withington Masonry Contractors has given him a perfect introduction to the trade.

Away from Campus, he has been working on a new-build site in Upper Poppleton and he pointed out: “I’m doing everything that a bricklayer needs to, like walling, but a good amount of labouring as well and it’s a good experience on a big site. Even though I want to be a bricklayer, it gives you a good overall picture of the whole building process and I’ve loved it.

“At College, all of the tutors are very good. They have worked in the industry and try to pass on the skills they learned to you.

“I also went to another college before, but the facilities here are a lot better. You need space to put on a bricklaying class and it’s very spacious.

“My apprenticeship and time at College has given me confidence and the right mentality, too. You have to be patient if something is out of line and isn’t plumb and you have to put it right because, if you don’t in the real world, then it has to come down.”

Harry is now looking forward to the Regional SkillBuild Competition, which will be held on “home turf” at York College in early July.

Should he be successful there, he will then progress to the national final in Milton Keynes.

He is also already considering his future after completing the apprenticeship.

“Maybe in a few years, when I’m qualified, I’ll become self-employed like my boss now,” he said. “That’s my ambition at the moment and I might even take on an apprentice myself.”

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