Britain is facing a crisis of traditional skills, as many of its most important historic buildings and monuments are crying out for restoration and repair.

The major problem with shoring up heritage sites is not lack of money, but lack of skilled tradespeople able to restore masonry, metalwork and other features of grand houses, castles and cathedrals.

Trades people and craftsmen, such as stonemasons and thatchers, are in short supply and York Minster was recently forced to start training glass conservators to repair its impressive Great East Window because none could be found, the BBC reports.

An English Heritage report warned in 2005 that the country was facing a shortfall of around 6,500 skilled craftspeople, such as carpenters, tilers, joiners, steeplejacks, painters and lead workers.

The National Heritage Training Group (NHTG) has been established to bring together organisations, tradespeople and colleges to tackle the shortfall in traditional skills and a number of training, mentoring and apprenticeship programmes have been launched.

Stonemason Mike Moody, chair of the NHTG, told the BBC: "During the 1960s, 70s and 80s there was some horrendously poor work done on our heritage structures and we're starting to see an exponential rise in the number of buildings on the at risk register as a result. And by the time the industry finally recognised this, there was no-one to fix the problem."

Specialist skills like building dry stone wall need to passed on from ageing craftspeople to new talent in order to ensure they are kept alive and an important element of British heritage is not lost.