Hameg scope repair

[Yorkie]

I'm with you on that John. When I was at secondary school we did woodwork and metalwork on the assumption, (which turned out to be correct in my case) that we'd be destined to become apprentices in one trade or another. I was very fortunate on leaving achool aged 15 in 1954 - though I didn't think so at the time - to serve a six year apprenticeship with what was then 'the Gas Board', now British Gas. We were taught to join lead pipes using techniques which went back to Roman times (not for gas of course back then, but water). We weren't allowed to make 'wiped' joints using a blowlamp until we'd mastered the technique of using a ladle of molten solder splashed onto ther joint with a little wooden paddle then quickly wiped to shape using a moleskin. All domestic plumbiing back then was lead pipe, and gas pipes were lead too - 1/", 5/8" and 3/4", with 1" for meter connections. Gas joints were made with a 'mouthlamp' which consisted of a brass tube with a wick in it soaked in meths. The flame was blown to as point with a rubber pipe held in the mouth, which enabled you to precisely control the flame to melt the solder and make the joint. (I've still got my mouthlamp I received when I was allowed to work solo, having passed the Intermediate City and Guilds exam aged 17 in 1956). I guess that in the ten years that I was 'on the tools' before I started to climb the greasy pole of management, I must have made more than 20,000 such joints - a lost skill now of course, with no lead pipes for decades. We were also taught to use brass, copper and iron pipes, bending, threading and jointing, and also joiinery, plastering, bricklaying, glazing, roof work including lead flashing, machine shop engineering, technical drawing and so forth.

Over the years those skills have stood me in good stead, both for DIY and hobbies.

Sadly, in the UK, traditional apprenticeships have been abandoned in favour of 'NVQ's - which in my perhaps cynical view, stands for 'Not Very Qualified'. The term 'apprenticeship' has been devalued, just as 'engineer' has. An engineer' used to be Brunel - not the guy who mends washing machines, skilled though he may be. The term 'modern apprenticeship' has come into vogue (to give the impression that the antonym of 'modern' is 'old fashioned' and out of date), and figures are bandied about as to certain supermarket chains creating thousands of 'apprenticeships' being given finacial incentives to train 'apprentices' in retail skills as 'ambient replenishment operatives' or to you and I, 'shelf stackers' - not new jobs, but jobs that would exist anyway. In countries such as Germany, apprenticeships are prestigious, much sought after and required the equivalent of A levels to stand a chance of getting selected. Hence the advent of the Polish plumber - not a cowboy, properly trained and qualified, with pride in the job imbued as part of the apprenticeship.

Oh well, what goes around comes around I guess.

Wittered David, rambling right off topic yet again!