Bazza wrote:

Thanks for the adhesive shrinkage tip, the original skirting was not
plastered behind but fixed using 10mm wood spacers at the points where
it was nailed to bring it flush with the plaster,this would result in a
nice wavy effect!!! needless to say removing the skirting resulted in a
lot of split wood(nails where big buggers when it was built in ,37)
which means i will have to fit all new as i cannot get the original
design

You can get the original design. Clean a short sample of your original,
and take it to a timber merchant such as Jewson who have a mill. They
will copy it for you for a reasonable charge.