Richard Woolf represented ASCHB at the Civic Voice Convention and AGM in Wakefield on  20-21st October. He reported that it was a very enjoyable and productive conference, and that there was a lot of interest in ASCHB.

He took away three key issues from the conference:

• The incredible amount of selfless work done by Civic groups around the UK in managing historic environments against the odds.
• The need for acton to ensure the redraft of the NPPF in March 2018 strengthens heritage and conservation and the need, individually and collectively, to lobby the case with our MP’s.
• The nationwide view that the planning system will soon grind to a halt.

The latest Civic Voice update reports that a lack of sufficient capacity within local government is threatening effective enforcement particularly within Conservation Areas.
Visit the Civic Voice website for latest news and local initiatives.

NHIG are holding a day of practical guidance on the process of writing and understanding specifications on historic ironwork on 17th November 2017 at St Paul’s Cathedral. Tickets cost £75 (£55 students) and are available from the NHIG website Booking Details

Frances Maude of Donald Insall Associates will be talking about their work at the Temperate House, Kew Gardens, the subject of an ASCHB talk and visit earlier this year.

Our new season of talks and events starts next Tuesday 26th September at Cowcross Street, when Bill and Hamish Harvey will talk to us on Masonry Bridges, Dynamic or Static (see our Meetings page for details).

2018 sees our 50th anniversary since a group of staff and students of the Institute of Archaeology’s diploma course founded the Society to encourage the free exchange of ideas and practical experiences.

To date, we have published 39 Volumes of  Transactions, covering the wear and tear on a range of buildings and the philosophy of their repair, ruins, fires, saving by salvage and worldwide practice, and we have looked at the contribution made by individuals.

For this season, a series of events during the year will mark our anniversary. The annual conference will examine conservation education in the widest sense. It will examine what we think we have learned, how we have learned it and how education in conservation has changed. However we do not just wish to gaze retrospectively, but would like to address the challenge of developing and disseminating conservation knowledge in the years ahead. Conservation practice and its education have become more institutionalised over the last half century. What are the pros and cons of that? As sustainability considerations encourage adaptation and refurbishment of existing buildings conservation approaches are likely to become more useful in mainstream construction. How will they be managed? Landscapes, city quarters, and transport infrastructure are now all considered for conservation. Should we adopt a more integrated approach as well as focusing on individual artefacts? How do we teach that? These are just examples that we might examine. We would like you to share with us your thoughts on the burning issues of the future, what we should be researching, and how conservation education should be conducted. Please email us through our Contact Page.

We are asking for suggestions for the discussion on November 21st, ASCHB at 50: Influential Books. Please email us through our Contact Page with your nominations for the five most influential books for conservation over the last fifty years. Do include those that might now be regarded as mistaken, and add a brief paragraph in no more than 50 words, on the effect the book has had. We will debate the merits of the top five at our meeting. Find the list so far on our Book Review Page.

The 2018 Forum, What key project or occurrence to a historic place really made a difference?  will take place next May. We would like you to propose seminal conservation repair works on historic buildings, conservation disasters or key events that have befallen historic buildings and have led to a change in conservation practice. Send us your proposals through our Contact Page.

The Gallery was well-filled for our Lime Forum on Tuesday which proved a great success: we will be posting a report on the website shortly. We were sorry that Nigel Copsey was unable to join us, but he is now on the mend and we will include his presentation in our report. In the meantime, the Heritage England publication on Nanolime can be found here 

After the meeting, lost property was handed in- a notebook and pen, and a scarf. Please contact us through the CONTACT page, and will return them to you.

The next ASCHB meeting will be at the usual time at the Gallery on Tuesday 20 June 2017, when Stephen Levrant will talk on Moving Lutyens War Memorial, Manchester 

Our Twitter account has suffered sustained hacking attacks, and we have decided to open a new account to prevent further interference. So please sign up at  @aschb_org_uk .

This week also saw the publication of the latest Heritage Update  (now also on Twitter and Facebook). In this edition, Heritage Alliance have pulled out some of the pledges from the Labour and Lib-Dem manifestos which relate to the Heritage Sector. Conservative pledges will follow in the next edition.

Tomorrow’s talk will be given by Jo Thwaites of Historic Royal Palaces on the external repairs to Inigo Jones’s Banqueting House in Whitehall. See our MEETINGS & VISITS page for further details.