I'm a civil servant totally disillusioned with my job and have been giving a change of job great thought. I was thinking that I could have a go at trade such as plumbing and was wondering if anyone from here knew of any local colleges that has courses in this field?

Sheffield College is running one on Saturdays at their Granville Road site. A colleague is thinking of applying. Have a look at their website for info.

When I last spoke to the Sheffield College about the plumbing course here is the info I was given.

Roughly 2000 students apply for the plumbing course which has space for about 25.

To study plumbing part time (due to the new regulations given by the examining body) it would take 6 yrs to qualify.
Something about the amount of hours that have to be done during study.

You can do study from home courses in plumbing craft via these guys: http://www.olci.info/ however it cost about £500 for the course.

Pauly (forumer) would be a good person to ask. He answered me when I was thinking about plumbing (which I'm not anymore).
He's just finishing a gas fitters course with Keir and is a dab hand with the plumbing himself (I know cos he recently helped me out with mi radiators).

HTH Dick :thumbsup: