Plastering firm that ensures traditional skills are thriving

During the English Civil War, Cromwell's forces occupied Goldsborough Hall in North Yorkshire, while they demolished nearby Knaresborough Castle. The hooks where the soldiers hung their hammocks can still be seen in the house's attic.

Today, a specialist plastering firm is doing its bit to preserve a part of the house which was built after the soldiers departed.

The stately home's owners, Mark and Clare Oglesby, have spent 10,000 restoring the ceiling of the Princess Mary bedroom.

Bits of plaster kept falling from the ceiling, which was designed by John Carr and Robert Adam in the mid-1700s.

Restoration work is being carried out by Ryedale Plasterers, a company based in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, which specialises in work on historic buildings.

The company's managing director, Catherine Windross, said it was on the brink of securing more work, including a project to restore a house in the Shetlands.

The company, which employs four staff and has a turnover of around 150,000, managed to find work during the recession, when a number of its competitors collapsed.

Ms Windross said "The ceiling we restored was covered by so much over-painting, so we carefully removed the layers of paint to reveal the detail. "

According to Ms Windross, restoration work keeps traditional skills alive.

She added: "I have second and third generation craftsmen in my team so the amount of knowledge is vast.

"Every job is different, What the craftsmen did, and how they did it, is a puzzle. You can't learn that out of a book, you learn it on site.

"I also have an apprentice. If you don't keep teaching the skills, you don't keep them alive. We work with the Regional Heritage Skills co-ordinator, Sophie Norton, at York University to make sure these skills are taught.

"Time and skill is what people are trying to cut corners on. That's not what this job is about.

"You wouldn't scrimp on getting a Rolls Royce serviced or fixed, you'd go to a proper dealer and get the right parts and do the work correctly."