We had Colchester lathes at high school in our metal work shop. As the high school I went to was the 'new' high school in town, they were only about twelve years old when we got our hands on them, virtually brand new. When I went for a wander around the school a few years ago, with one of my classmates who is now the Bursar (Financial Officer), thirty mumble years after we were students there, the lathes were still there and in remarkably good condition.
The shop hasn't been closed down and the machines sold at auction? That seems to the the norm these days.
No, they have actually expanded. Have a look at the photo/diagram below and you will see they have extended the the area to include a dedicated classroom/design lab. When I went to high school in the mid 80s the technonolgy options were metalwork,woodwork and technical drawing. Now the (traditionally male orientated) technology options are Hard Materials and Design & Visual Communication. It appears woodwork and metalwork have been bundled together. In the third year Hard Materials becomes Introductory Workshop Practice, that is both pre-apprenticeship training and a prerequisite for the following years workshop based electives. Design & Visual Communication continues to be taught. The following two years have Workshop Engineering, that is metalwork; Trade Skills, for those who want to be plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc; Automotive Engineering and Design & Visual Communication.
It is interesting to note that 'shop' is now taught in all five years. When I was at high school metalwork and woodwork were only taught in the first three years and tech drawing in the first four. If you were going to go into a trade you tended to leave after the third year. The end of the third year was when you sat School Certificate, the first major, nationally moderated exams/qualification. Now days kids stay at school longer and the 'book learning' side of trades is delivered outside of the place of employment to a certain degree. By staying at school and doing these electives they can get some of the Unit Standards towards their trade qualification before they enter the job market.
They have actually removed two lathes, there used to be six, to make room along the north (top) wall for the shaper, spot welder and pedestal griners that used be against the south wall and needed to move when they built the design lab.
