Stonemason Piers Conway, who lives on the island of Portland, Dorset, has won a £6,000 Queen Elizabeth Scholarship to complete a training programme in building conservation. He will be presented with his award cheque by The Lord Chamberlain, The Lord Luce, at a special ceremony in London this month (June).

Queen Elizabeth Scholarships are designed to advance education in modern and traditional crafts and trades in the UK and are open to men and women of all ages. Scholarships are awarded twice a year and this spring five awards were been made totalling more than £29,000.

Conway is 34 and comes from a family of stonemasons dating back three generations on his mother\'s side.

After leaving school aged 15 he laboured on building sites but, aware of the family tradition, decided to learn the craft of stonemasonry. He gained a City & Guilds qualification, later studying for a Diploma in Architectural Stone Carving at Weymouth College.

He gained experience at the Portland Stone Company and was also part of a team that worked on the Lady Chapel at Hereford Cathedral, where he carved gargoyles and characters in stone as well as intricate leafed capitals.

He has been self employed for five years, working as a subcontractor on cathedrals, churches and other important historical buildings. He has his own carving workshop.

Conway recently also won a prestigious William Morris Craft Fellowship from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB).

Just three or four William Morris Fellowships are awarded each year to experienced men and women who have reached a high standard in their craft. Conway\'s will be used to study historic building conservation in depth.

His Queen Elizabeth Scholarship enables him to complete a full time, six month course of practical training.

Conway comments: "It is quite simply the best course of its kind. We learn through lectures and site visits the many problems facing those concerned with historic buildings, such as restoration versus repair, when to conserve and when to renew.

"The course includes visits to glass blowers, thatchers, lime kilns and brick manufacturers and we travel the whole of the country to gain a better understanding of all elements of traditional buildings."Although I have a wide range of building skills I lacked knowledge in conservation and ancient building practices. So much damage has been committed to our heritage through ignorance and well intentioned mistakes because modern building techniques are so different, and generally inferior, to those of our predecessors."Mistakes cannot be undone on historic buildings and it is vital to have the knowledge to make the right decision."

On completing the course he plans to expand his business further into historic building conservation and, he hopes, to employ one or two staff who he can his skills on to.

Closing date is 19 July.

Application forms for autumn 2002 Scholarships may be obtained by sending a self-addressed envelope with 33p worth of stamps on it to:

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