We are thrilled to announce that one of our talented members, Angela Cole, will be featured in an upcoming exhibition at Ryedale Folk Museum Gallery. The exhibition, called “The Handworkers” by Rachel Rimmel, celebrates the individuals who are keeping traditional crafts alive in the modern age.

Angela Cole is an award-winning basket weaver who specializes in creating both traditional and sculptural baskets using sustainable natural materials. She has been awarded a bursary by the York Foundation for Conservation and Craftsmanship to revive a C19th Yorkshire basket, which will be featured in the exhibition.

Rachel Rimmel, the photographer and artist behind the exhibition, has captured the intimate and insightful portraits of Angela and other craftsmen and women who are revitalizing traditional skills and techniques. Also featured in the exhibition are a master thatcher, botanical eco-printer, blacksmith, potter, and ceramacist, as well as a Yorkshire Wolds apple juice maker.

“The Handworkers” will be on display from Monday 20 March to Sunday 30 April (closed on Fridays) at Ryedale Folk Museum Gallery in North Yorkshire. This exhibition is supported by Ryedale District Council and promises to be a fascinating look at the important role traditional crafts play in our world today. Don’t miss it!

Second Tuesday Talks are back! This autumn, our online series of talks will explore a diverse range of craft and conservation projects, from loaning locomotives for display and exploring historic photographic processes, to providing essential heritage skills training as part of conservation projects.

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We are delighted to announce a free online lecture, which is the first installment of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) Summer Travel Series on Monday, June 28th. The lecture will take place at 5pm BST (12pm EDT).

Join architectural historian Oliver Gerrish and CEO of Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust Sarah McLeod, who will present a specially made video of the state rooms of Wentworth Woodhouse with an introduction to this enormous Palladian mansion and its history, as well as the current restoration and renaissance.

For more information, and to register, please click here, or visit classicist.org

The last of our Winter series of Second Tuesday Talks, “St Paul’s Cathedral: Rescuing a lost architectural scheme. The Restoration of James Thornhill’s Tambour Decoration” will take place on Tuesday 9th February at 7pm.

Martin Stancliffe MA FSA, will discuss the project to restore the lost decorative scheme, carried out by Sir James Thornhill as part of his comprehensive treatment of the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral in the early eighteenth century.

As Surveyor to the Fabric, Martin Stancliffe was in overall charge of the project, executed between 2003 and 2005. Martin will explore the key stages of the project, from archival research and archaeological investigation, and obtaining the required formal consents, to devising a methodology for the selection of a contractor, and organising the execution of the work on site.

Martin’s talk will be followed by a Q&A session chaired by Rebecca Thompson. Participants will be able to submit questions for discussion, and are encouraged to send questions ahead of time, by emailing info@conservationyork.org.uk.

For more information, please visit our Events page.

Please click here to register for this event via Zoom. Registration is free and you won’t need a Zoom account to join the webinar.

Webinar on Thursday 21st January 2021, 12-2pm

Tickets: £5-25

Booking via Eventbrite: https://htvf.eventbrite.co.uk

Sponsored by Donald Insall Associates

With Heritage Declares calling for action, this webinar will look at climate change, our heritage and its settings. These two linked webinars will look at the close relationship between managing historic places and climate change.

To-date 300 out of the 404 district, county, unitary and metropolitan councils in the UK have declared a Climate Emergency, and are looking at what ‘net zero’ emissions by 2030 or 2050 means for their strategic policies and day-to-day actions. At the same time, the heritage sector has a new call for action – Heritage Declares.

While the inherent sustainability of re-using existing buildings is well-known, how persuasive are we at arguing for their retention in energy terms, or the microclimate of their settings?

How we balance adapting historic places to be more environmentally-responsible, whilst not harming their historic character, is a key challenge.

With low and zero-carbon strategies becoming increasingly important to places and organisations, what are the kind of actions that can be taken – large and small? What role can communities play when setting their own agendas for neighbourhood plans or rescuing historic buildings?

Each event counts as 2 hours of CPD.

PROGRAMME

Part 2: Thursday 21st January 2021 at 12-2pm

Introduction and Recap, Steven Bee, Director, Steven Bee Urban Counsel
Heritage and Climate Change: Policies and Strategies for Historic Areas, Dave Chetwyn, Managing Director, Urban Vision Enterprise CIC
Zero-Waste Masterplanning, Jane Manning, Partner, Allies and Morrison Urban Practitioners
Retrofitting for Flood Resilience in Buildings & Communities, Edward Barsley, Founder, The Environmental Design Studio (TEDS)
How Sustainability has grown in Hockerton – Case study: Wind energy, Simon Tilley, Sustainable Hockerton

Book now via Eventbrite: https://htvf.eventbrite.co.uk

In the second of our Winter Series of Second Tuesday Talks, Dr Mary Brooks (Durham University) and Dr Sonia O’Connor (University of Bradford) will explore the ‘cope’s’ construction and iconography, which includes a rare and very beautiful embroidered Lily Crucifix.

The talk will describe the outcomes of research projects, funded by the Society of Antiquaries, to ‘unpick’ the complex biography of the ‘cope’, using a variety of technical and textual sources, including radiography, to propose an alternative understanding of the nature of the ‘cope’ and a new history of its fragmentation and remaking.

Following their talk, Dr Brooks and Dr O’Connor will be joined by Auckland Project curator Amina Wright, for a Q&A session. Participants will be able to put questions to the panel for discussion, and are encouraged to submit questions ahead of time, by emailing info@conservationyork.org.uk.

For more information, please visit our Events page.

Please click here to register for this event via Zoom. Registration is free and you won’t need a Zoom account to join the webinar.

23rd & 24th November, 10am-4pm

Free online event (Zoom)

Public sculpture has become a focus for controversy at this volatile time, making it an opportune, indeed overdue, moment for an online webinar on Toppling Statues. The event is being co-hosted by The Burlington Magazine and the newly-formed Public Statues and Sculpture Association (PSSA).

It is intended to stimulate open-minded discussion and to help contextualise and advance understanding of the thousands of sculptures in public spaces in the UK and across the globe. It will constitute a serious academic debate to highlight the sculptures and their makers, the subjects depicted, their social and economic histories, and the ways in which such sculptures are viewed today.

This free event will be hosted live via Zoom, registration is required. For more information, including the full programme and links to registration, please click here.

19th, 26th November & 3rd December, 2pm

Free online event

Historic England and the South West branch of the IHBC have teamed up to host a free virtual conference on damp, masonry decay and sustainability, beginning this week.

On consecutive Thursdays on 19 and 26 November and 3 December, from 2–3.45pm, the speakers will present their latest research and experience relating to damp in masonry.

Moisture is a key factor in almost all forms of decay, and it increases heat loss from building fabric. However, identifying its source can be complicated as water is so mobile. It can condense from humid air onto cold surfaces and it can spread through a structure by capillary action and gravity.

Understanding these mechanisms and their consequences is vital, particularly now that we are increasing insulation in historic buildings and restricting ventilation. Getting it wrong can be disastrous.

In this virtual conference, to be held on three consecutive Thursdays, speakers include leading conservation specialists Marianne Suhr and Tim Floyd; Robyn Pender, Alison Henry and others from Historic England; Roger Curtis from Historic Environment Scotland, and Bath Abbey project architect Alex Morris.

The papers presented will include topics such as planning for climate change, best practice for damp survey and investigation, and the role of lime mortars in keeping building fabric dry.

To find out more and to sign up, click here.

The event will be of interest to building conservation professionals including conservation officers, architects and surveyors.

Registration is now open for Conservation and Craft Myths: A Window into the YCCC World!

You can find out more about the speakers and their talks here. Please register online.