A competition to find Britain’s best tradesman came to the region this week. Among the entrants was The Northern Echo’s Jim Entwistle.

I HAVE the sort of physique you would expect of an office worker.

My skin is pale and my hands are soft – but it wasn’t always this way.

Back in 2006, shortly before starting at The Northern Echo, I began work as a labourer for Trevor Teasdale in Askrigg, Wensleydale.

It was a difficult time. I remember in my first week hauling a scaffolding plank off the top of Trevor’s van and leaving a gouge in the otherwise pristine paintwork.

I also remember filling a trailer with sand, but forgetting to fasten the back, so when Trevor drove off, the sand spilled out across the road.

Barrow-loads of sloppy concrete, fetching the wrong tools – it was a long summer for my workmates.

So I didn’t go into the Irwin Industrial Tools Ultimate Tradesman Challenge with any sort of confidence.

The regional heat, held at Alan Wadkins Ltd, tool suppliers, in Chesnut Street, Darlington, challenged tradesmen to work a piece of wood into a shape that would fit into an allocated space, against the clock.

It involved measuring, sawing and drilling.

At stake was a place in the final 32, with the ultimate winner taking home an Aston Martin. Last year, Rob Guyll, a joiner from Yarm, won the competition and drove home a Porsche 911.

Before it was my turn, Darlington Borough Council worker Nigel Chandler, 33, fairly glides through the whole process, his arms a windmill of craftsmanship.

He finishes in a minute and 20 seconds.

“Not bad,” he says, looking towards the gleaming car.

“Quite easy really.”

I take to the stage, but within moments of beginning, it is clear that it will not be me driving the motor away.

All my efforts are clumsy and over-deliberate. It took me two minutes and 22 seconds to cobble my entry together, before it was disqualified for not coming up to standard.

Watching it back on video, I cringe. There’s a clear distrust between the tools and I. Holding the power drill, I look like a kid at the petting zoo, gripping a hissing snake at arm’s length, waiting for the keeper to take the nasty animal away.

Trevor, if you’re reading this, you can sleep easy, I’m sticking to the desk job.

■ Andy Vasey, who runs AV Joinery Services, in Darlington, qualified for the final with a winning time of 58 seconds.