A team of specialist construction companies are making history by conquering the delicate job of restoring a 600-year-old castle ruin.
Seymour Civil Engineering has been brought in by principal contractor William Birch to help carry out the painstaking work of transforming Hylton Castle in Sunderland into a visitor and learning centre.
The £4.5 million project is a partnership between local community group, Castle in the Community and Sunderland City Council and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and the castle itself is a Grade I Listed Building in the guardianship of English Heritage. The project will rejuvenate the site for locals and visitors alike. Once open, it will be managed with and for young people and offer training and internship opportunities.
Andy Mountford, Site Manager at Seymour Civil Engineering said: “Hylton Castle is a magnificent building and we’re really proud to be working alongside William Birch to bring it back to life as both an historic attraction and a hub for the community.
“Due to the nature of the project, the work has been far from run of the mill, largely because of the archaeological significance of the site and the effect this has had on our work programme as we carry out all the groundworks.
“Working closely with a team of archaeologists has certainly brought with it a fair few challenges, as you don’t know what you’re going to uncover as you go.
Brought in as the civil engineering contractor for the project, Seymour Civil Engineering has completed the groundworks for the restoration, laying the surface trenches in the grounds of the castle for the electricity, water and the ground source heat pumps for the castle’s geothermal energy, as well as the car park and footpaths.
Inside the castle, Seymour has facilitated the installation of ground beams, and will cast the concrete floors for all three levels, as well as the roof and a mezzanine floor.
The main contractor for the project, William Birch, is a building and restoration company based in York, specialising in heritage projects.
“Working on buildings that are as nationally significant as Hylton Castle brings an abundance of challenges, challenges that the project team have had to really pull together to overcome.
“Seymour has had a tall order with this project, as it has been predominately the groundworks which has been affected by the need for close archaeological monitoring.
As one of the North East’s leading civil engineering contractors, Seymour Civil Engineering is no stranger to projects of this nature.
In partnership with Hartlepool Borough Council, Seymour Civil Engineering worked on the strengthening of the historic, 14th century Hartlepool Headland Town Wall. The firm worked closely with archaeologists to excavate original wall cladding, and developed the craftsmanship to ensure the new wall carefully matched to the original.
Seymour Civil Engineering and Barnes Construction have celebrated their respective 40th anniversaries with the completion of a ground-breaking £2m public house development in Skelton.
The Longacre is the latest pub development from Marston’s PLC, located at the newly-developed Skelton Park on Pheasant Fields Lane.
As one of only three construction companies on the Marston’s PLC framework, The Longacre is the 38th public house that Ipswich based construction company Barnes Construction has worked on in partnership with the national pub chain.
Brought in as the civil engineering contractor for the project, Seymour Civil Engineering completed the earthworks for the development, as well as laying the foundations, installing the drainage system, creating a gabion wall around the site perimeter to manage soil erosion and laying the kerbs, paving, new entrance and 50 space car park.
Sarah Jopling, Site Manager at Seymour Civil Engineering, said: “This project in partnership with Barnes Construction has been a real triumph. It was completed on time and on budget and to see the pub finished and open to the public is something both the teams from Seymour and Barnes are very proud of.
David Faichney, Senior Contracts Manager at Barnes Constructions Ltd, said: “This is the first time we have partnered with Seymour Civil Engineering and the company’s professionalism has ensured the project has been a real success.
The £2m invested by Marston’s PLC, has brought a family-friendly pub to the East Cleveland shopping park, as well as bringing over 45 new jobs to the area.
As one of the North East’s leading civil engineering contractors, Seymour Civil Engineering is no stranger to the East Cleveland area. Last year the firm partnered with Skelton Villages Civic Pride, Redcar & Cleveland Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund on a scheme to regenerate Skelton town centre.
Jordan Quincey, the Project Manager for the Marston’s Longacre pub development, said: “It’s fantastic to see the Longacre ready to open, and we’re exciting for next week when the doors officially open to the people of Skelton.
Seymour Civil Engineering is also involved in the construction of the new Aldi supermarket on the same site, which is due to open in November 2018.
TWO Teesside sisters have bucked the trend of women in STEM, by climbing the ladder in both the science and engineering sectors.
Statistics show that women make up only 12% of all STEM employees in the UK, yet 18-year-old Klaudia Robinson, from Hartlepool swapped her childhood dream of becoming a hairdresser for a career in engineering, thanks to an insight in to the world of STEM careers provided by her older sister.
“I don’t think girls really think of careers in science, maths, engineering and technology as options when they’re at school because there are so many more stereotypically feminine subjects and career routes that you are more aware of.
Kensey Robinson, 20, started her journey in to STEM when she completed an apprenticeship through Hartlepool College, with the Hartlepool based medical diagnostics company, Hart Biologicals, in 2015.
Since then Kensey has gone on to work as a Lab Technician, working on a number of the firm’s largest projects.
She said: “Whilst at school I’d never thought about going in to a science-related career, but I was really enjoying the subject so one of my career advisors brought to my attention the apprentice vacancy at Hart Biologicals.
“During my first year of College, studying for a BTEC in additional science, I was the only girl in a class of boys, headed by a male tutor.
Both Klaudia and Kensey have been actively involved in promoting STEM careers to school and college students in the region, accompanying Seymour Civil Engineering and Hart Biological’s STEM ambassadors to careers events and open days across the North East. In addition, Klaudia has also become a CITB ambassador.
This year, for the second time running, Seymour Civil Engineering has been recognised for its commitment to inspiring the engineers of the future, by being award the Institute of Civil Engineers’ Mike Gardiner Cup, for support of the institute’s education programme.
Klaudia said: “During my time at college, I have always been one of very few women. It’s something that I’m used to now and it’s only when I stop to think about it that I realise just what a difference in gender there is in engineering and construction.
“As a whole, when you see images representing STEM careers, they tend to show men busy working on a construction site, men in a science lab, or male maths teachers in the classroom. Those images reinforce the perception that those industries are for men.
“Kensey is the reason I decided to go for an apprenticeship, and I’m truly grateful that I got the insight into STEM from her that I did. My career in engineering, working for Seymour, has been fantastic so far as no two days are ever the same. With new projects coming in all the time, I always have something new and exciting to work on.
“We are typical sisters and we still argue, but by both completing apprenticeships, and working in fields that aren’t the norm for girls our age, I definitely think we’ve grown closer.