Universally during the past 25 years there has been an increasing awareness of the importance of lime in historic architecture and, in particular, it's use in conservation. A number of authoritative bodies such as English Heritage, the Building Research Establishment, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and the Standing Joint Committee on Recruitment and Training of Architects for the Care of Old Buildings, have produced and published a great deal of valuable academic work on the subject.
							'Building with Lime' by Stafford Holmes and Michael Wingate is an excellent example of the material now available. It has become evident that today's student almost suffers from a surfeit of academic information, but has very little opportunity to gain practical experience. The consensus of opinion was that facilities for 'hands on' experience were needed to complement academic courses already being provided.