The Association of Heritage Engineers (AoHE) is set to hold the first of its Heritage Legacy Meets in partnership with renowned classic car engineering firm, Fiennes Restoration Ltd, this summer.
The AoHE is a membership organisation established at the beginning of last year, with the aim of tackling a skills gap in heritage engineering. When older engineers and craftspeople leave a business there is often no conduit or opportunity for them to share their skills and experiences, so AoHE was set up to help like-minded people help share information across the generations, preserving and promoting a heritage engineering legacy so that it can survive in the future. It is hoped that engineers and enthusiasts from across all disciplines of the heritage engineering world will take part, whether it’s steam, aviation, cars, motorcycles, industrial heritage museums or many more besides.
Fiennes, which is an AoHE member, is inviting people to park and look around their restoration and manufacturing facility near Burford in Oxfordshire on Saturday June 8 from 10am. There will be representation from the Bicester-based Heritage Skills Academy to talk about careers and qualifications within heritage engineering, with all road-going heritage vehicles welcome. The AoHE is especially keen to get as many ‘young people’s’ sections of vehicle clubs involved, so if your club fits the bill and would like to arrange a small display section, get in contact via Email: associationofheritageengineers@gmail.com, via Twitter @aohereng or via Facebook or Instagram under ‘associationofheritageengineers’. The Website can be found at www.associationofheritageengineers.co.uk.
In the meantime, the AoHE will host its first stand at the Practical Classics Classic Car and Restoration show at Birmingham’s NEC on March 22-24. The stand theme will be Past-Present-Future and will include a member’s MGA Twin Cam that belonged to his father and is now used to help promote Alzheimer’s awareness. The Heritage Skills Academy will also be present to advise on courses and careers for apprentices, as well as provide information on its short courses.
