Latest News

Doors Open Day - 01/06/2011

We have a range of fantastic free events this September for those who would like to visit the Penicuik House Project. As part of this years Penicuik Arts Festival crafters will be transforming the training centre for a craft fair and demonstrations of a range of crafts including weaving, spinning, felting and knitting. Arran Johnston will also be giving an illustrated lecture on the Prestonpans Tapestries and musical Interludes will be provided by Jon Redpath with his Hurdy Gurdy! The craft fair is being held on Sunday 04 September from 11am - 4pm and this free event is a fun day out for all of the family. To find out more about the other activties happening as part of the Penicuik Arts Festival click here.

On Tuesday 06 Sept our project archaeologist Jenni Morrison will be offering the chance to tour the ruin and learn about the techniques used in building archaeology and how these can help us to better understand old buildings. Further details can be found on the training and events section of this site, places are limited so do contact us or book a place online.

Saturday 10 September 2011 will see Penicuik House open to visitors as of the European wide Doors Open Day scheme. This event has proved popular with visitors over the years with a chance to visit the new training centre that has been created within the ruin of Penicuik House and find out how building work to the ruin has been progressing.

There will be activties throughout the day for all ages with demonstrations of traditional building techniques and children's craft activties. Tours of Penicuik House and the surroundings will also take place at 11.30am and 1.30pm. For further information about Doors Open Day events in the Midlothian area please click here.

Ayr College Students visit Penicuik House - 13/06/2011

NC Built Environment students from Ayr College made a visit to Penicuik House on the 09 June 2011 for a day introducing the students to traditional building technology. The visit was arranged with Ayr College tutor Cameron Bell who realised the potential for students to gain an insight into traditional building technology after attending a training course with the Scottish Lime Centre Trust.

The majority of the students course deals with new build and modern buildings and Ayr College have been keen to include aspects of traditional building technology into the built environment courses that they teach. The Penicuik House Project provided the perfect opportunity for students to spend a day learning about approaches to traditional building repair and to try out some of the traditional skills for themselves. Students were given an introduction to the Penicuik House Project and aspects of ruin consolidation and were able to mix their own lime mortars and undertake lime pointing.

Cameron commented 'Thanks for arranging a fantastic day for the staff and students...the class are still chattering about it...to get a tour of the site with the contractor was a real high spot!'

Damp in Buildings - 05/05/2011

The Penicuik House Project were delighted to welcome back Mike Parrett to deliver another seminar dealing with the common problem of damp in buildings as part of the Penicuik House Project. Mike is co-author of the RICS best seller, 'Diagnosing Damp', the recognised primary reference work on dampness in buildings. Damp is a major maintenance issue for our built heritage and after decades of sales-led 'solutions', Mike's back-to-basics approach gets to grips with where damp comes from and offers real, practical advice to deal with problems.

We received fantastic feedback from those who attended this seminar with an audience that included building professionals from a wide range of organisations including Historic Scotland, Edinburgh World Heritage, National Trust for Scotland, local authorities and several architectural practices specialising in working with traditional buildings. Many attendees found Mike's advice to be a real revelation as he has solved damp problems in over 30,000 properties without once chemically injecting a DPC!

For those who missed Mike's seminar 'Diagnosing Damp' can be purchased from RICS books by clicking here. Mike has also produced a comprehensive DVD series 'Building Pathology' click here to watch a trailer for the series and for purchase information.

Newsflash! You won't want to miss our CPD Seminars - 06/05/2011

For those who missed Mike's seminar 'Diagnosing Damp' can be purchased from RICS books by clicking here. Mike has also produced a comprehensive DVD series ?Building Pathology? click here to watch a trailer for the series and for purchase information.

For 2011 we have a comprehensive programme of training and seminars delivered by renowned experts in their field from throughout the UK. Forthcoming events include 'Plaster Patching and Repair' on the 27th May delivered by traditional plastering specialist William McVey give building professionals the knowledge required to assess existing plasterwork and specify flatwork and lath plaster repairs using traditional materials and methods. William has nearly 40 years experience of repairs to traditional plaster, cornice and ornamental plasterwork and has undertaken projects for the National Trust for Scotland, The Landmark Trust, Glasgow Building Preservation Trust and Turnberry House Hotel.

Gerald Lynch, internationally acclaimed and highly respected historic brickwork consultant and Moses Jenkins, Senior Technical Officer with Historic Scotland's Technical Conservation Group who has a particular interest in historic brickwork will also be delivering a 2 part traditional brickwork seminar on the 01-02 June 2011. Part 1 comprises of a day of lecture and practical demonstration with the opportunity for attendees to try out some of the techniques discussed. The aim of the day is to instruct attendees in the history, skills and knowledge required to approach repair work to traditional brick structures. Part 2 on the second day is aimed at those who would like to return to undertake further practical instruction to be able to undertake repairs to traditional brick structures.

For further details on any of our courses and seminars please contact us for further information or check out the Courses and Events section of this website.

SPAB Scotland Visit Penicuik House - 25/04/2011

The Penicuik House Project were delighted to accommodate a group of Scottish members from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) for a day long introduction to lime technology workshop on Saturday 23 April. Delivered by the Scottish Lime Centre Trust's Director, Roz Artis-Young, the group looked at making and using lime mortars and the day included practical activities to including slaking quicklime, mortar mixing and lime pointing.

The 10 attendees were also given a tour of the Penicuik House site by masonry contractor Graeme Brown who was able to show the group the work undertake to the house to date. Feedback from those attending showed that the SPAB members thoroughly enjoyed their day at Penicuik House and would find the information they gained useful in informing their work with traditional buildings.

Mary Pitt, SPAB in Scotland Administrator, commented to the Scottish Lime Centre Trust 'The training provided at Penicuik House, in conjunction with Scottish Lime Centre Trust, is indispensible in spreading the word about lime. The course we participated in will help to further the preservation and development of Scottish buildings through the appreciation and understanding of traditional crafts and skills......Your expertise and services provide immense support to our membership, the conservation of Scotland's traditional and historic structures, and the public in general. We were honoured to have attended a training course and wish you all the very best for the future'

The Penicuik House Project provides a wonderful oppertunity for a wide range of groups to visit and learn about this important ruin and the work being undertaken to preserve it for future generations. Visiting groups have included primary and secondary schools, community groups and students and tours and lectures can be arranged. We can also provide practical activties in traditional building skills. If you have a group who would be interested in visiting the Penicuik House Project please click here to contact us.

Traditional Crafts Day - 04/09/2010

As part of this year's Penicuik Arts Festival the Penicuik House Project held a traditional crafts day on site within the new training centre.

A fun day was had by all and visitors young and old tried their hand at wet and dry felting, spinning and weaving wool and painting plaster cast moulds. Tutors from the Galgael project in Glasgow, Anneruth Strauss and Laryna Wuppermann, led the felting activties and local spinner Marjorie Johnston was on hand with her spinning wheel to demonstrate wool spinning.

Anneruth lives locally in Penicuik and has been hosting taster sessions at local venues throughout the Penicuik Arts Festival. She will be continuing her 'Making Space' crafting sessions on a regular basis. For further information about 'Making Space' and the Galgael project please click here to visit Anneruth's blog. You can also view pictures of the Penicuik House training centre which was transformed by the felters colourful work

Anneruth will return to Penicuik House on Saturday 11 Sept to demonstrate loom weaving as part of this years doors open day event. The training centre will be open from 10.30pm - 3.30pm giving the public the chance to find out more about the Penicuik House Project with demonstrations of stone carving, childrens crafts and tours of the site leaving from the training centre at 11.30pm and 1.30pm.

Penicuik High School - 24/06/2010

S1 and S3 pupils from Penicuik High School recently visited Penicuik House to undertake two day practical workshops learning about the history of Penicuik House and to try their hand at a range of traditional building skills.

These 'traditional skills taster days' gave pupils an exciting introduction to the history of Penicuik House and the ongoing works to consolidate the ruin and gave pupils the opportunity to consider why it is important to conserve our traditional buildings.

Pupils were also able to try some practical traditional building techniques designing and cutting their own masons marks into small tablets of stone and building a traditional rubble arched bridge.

The response from both pupils and teachers to the activities available through the Penicuik House Project have been extremely positive with one Penicuik High pupil commenting 'I enjoyed the teamwork used while building the wall because it involved talking and planning. I really enjoyed myself over the 2 days we were here and hope to possibly come back one day.'

Work Experience - 30/04/2010

With a real shortage of skilled trades people able to care for traditional buildings the Penicuik House Project aims to encourage young people to consider a career in the traditional construction trades.

At the request of Penicuik High School we have recently been able to accommodate S4 pupil James Goodall who was seeking work experience in the field of construction. James spent the second week of his Easter holiday on site at Penicuik House with the project contractors.

James finishes school this summer and says the placement has given him a good introduction to working in the construction industry and he is now keen to find a job or apprenticeship working in this field.

We hope that we can can continue to offer work experience placements at Penicuik House and we would be delighted to hear from any local young people who are seeking work experience. You can get in touch through the 'contact us' section of this website.

New Training Courses - 23/04/2010

Our new course brochure for 2010-2011 is now available with course dates timetabled until April 2011.

After many requests to extend the range of courses available within the project we have extended our practical training programme to include courses for homeowners. We now have a range of courses aimed at those who own or are responsible for a traditional building running on Saturday's

For building professionals we have added two short courses, 'P1 Introduction to Masonry Repairs in Traditional Buildings' and the follow on course 'P2 Masonry Building Conservation'.Both of these courses are also suitable for homeowners

For further information please browse the 'Courses & Events' section of this site or click here to contact us for further information or to receive regular information about the project.

Help Support the Penicuik House Project - 09/04/2010

Would you like to help save Penicuik House? There are several ways to get involved.

Why not volunteer? We have activities suitable for a wide range of volunteers from helping out at open days and events to spending the weekend undertaking path clearing or helping with masonry repairs. Volunteering at Penicuik House is a great way to learn new skills, as volunteers can access many of the training oppertunities available within the project.

If you would like to find out more about volunteering oppertunities click here to contact our Training and Education Officer who would be happy to tailor a volunteer oppertunity to suit you.

We are also continuing to fundraise towards the project costs and would be extremely grateful for donations towards this worthwhile project.Click here to go the Donation page