APPRENTICE bricklayer Ian Cutmore from Delungra was pleased when he found out he had been nominated to compete in the national, biennial Golden Trowel Awards, and surprised when his team won it.

Just glad to get a shot at the competition, 17-year-old Ian explained apprentices only get one opportunity to compete in the award.

“Our apprenticeship is for four years but we only do three years at TAFE and the fourth year is all practical work, the awards only happen every two years so we only get one chance at it,” Ian said.

On Tuesday, September 20 in the function room at Noah’s On the Beach in Newcastle Ian and his teammate from TAFE Coffs Harbour workshop, Dwayne Potter from Tenterfield, were announced as winners of the competition.

Apprentices from the Coffs Harbour workshop have taken out the national competition twice in the last eight years.

“It was all practical, we had to lay blocks and build a wheel arch, that’s a circle in the middle of a wall,” Ian said.

“We worked well together to take out the prize.

“I’m pretty happy with it and I was pretty surprised to win it,” Ian said

Ian’s boss Col McIntyre said the lad had done well for himself.

Ian came in as the best of 12 entrants from all over Australia and said he liked bricklaying very much.

“Hopefully there’ll be a little money in it when I qualify in two years time,” he said.

Coffs Harbour workshop now joins Orange TAFE College as the only campuses in Australia to have won the Golden Trowel Award twice.

© 2011 Inverell Times

<< Back