Last updated 11:37, Thursday, 01 May 2008

Ignorance is the major barrier to a civilised society. Forgetting the past can cause problems in the future – and we are in danger of creating some mighty headaches soon.

We seem to have lost some of the specialist skills of centuries ago – skills that are needed to maintain some of our oldest and most cherished landmarks.

Worrying research has revealed that more than two-thirds of work being done on buildings pre-dating 1919 is being done without those with proper skills and materials, which could lead to historic buildings being damaged and ruined.

While progress and change is necessary and welcome, we also have to keep hold of and cherish our past, maintaining historic buildings for the next generation and the generation after that.

A key part of the multi-million pound Carlisle Renaissance scheme is to enhance the area around the city’s cathedral.

The statues of the saints Peter, Paul, James and John were recently painstakingly removed and restored by skilled stonemasons.

We should be grateful that we still have these skills today and we should ensure that there are those around to carry them forward into the next generation.

We need to do more now to provide the properly trained skilled craftsmen needed to maintain our heritage sites.

Otherwise, we could be find ourselves without any historical buildings left to see and visit.